EuroLeague's beat: baklava-powered Sloukas and flying elbows in surprising El Clasico / News - Basketnews.com
Credit imago images/ANE Edition - Scanpix, Alfonso Cannavacciuolo - Getty Images| BasketNews illustration BasketNewscontinues the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague beat edition. Here, you'll be able to find all the info you need about what happened in the latest EuroLeague round.
Zalgiris revival, cold-blooded Sloukas, excellent Wilbekin, efficient Lo, double-double by Melli, UNICS slump, PAO's long-waited road win, and one-way traffic in legendary El Clasico - all of that and more in EuroLeague's Round 26 beat.
EuroLeague's beat Round 26
9 LOSSES, NO MORE. "Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row," the legendary American-Lithuanian tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis said after finally beating his rival Jimmy Connors. Well, Zalgiris Kaunas can say similar things this season as well.
The Lithuanian team started the season with 9 straight losses before capturing their first win. Now, after experiencing a streak of 9 defeats in a row, Zalgiris captured a win once again. This season, nobody beats Zalgiris 10 times in a row.
THE PERFECT SHOOTER. Zalgiris forward Niels Giffey had had a mainly disappointing season before the match against AS Monaco. It didn't matter. The German player decided to change the course, and boy did he do it.
Giffey was perfect both from the field and from the free-throw line, making all 3 of his field goals and all 7 of his free throws. He further grabbed 5 rebounds, made 1 steal, and 1 assist for a total of 23 PIR. A sign of things to come?
NO LEADER, NO PROBLEM. Luke Sikma has been the undisputed leader of the ALBA Berlin team this season so far. He's averaging 9.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists for 16.4 PIR this year. However, things did not go that well for Sikma against Zenit St Petersburg.
Sikma only registered 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist for a measle 1 PIR point, but it did not matter for the German team. A collective effort led by Maodo Lo took down the powerhouse from Russia with 7 players scoring 8 or more points.
NEW YEAR NEW ME. Maodo Lo is the king of the backcourt in Berlin now. Although the first several months of the season were marked by ups and downs from the German guard, Lo has now established his presence on the EuroLeague map.
Maodo Lo averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 assists for 12.6 PIR in the first three months of the season. The New Year came, came the new Maodo Lo as well. The guard is now averaging 15.1 points and 3.4 assists for 19.1 PIR during the months of January and February.
KOSTAS - THE KILLER. Kostas Sloukas is clutch - that's the one thing we surely know this season. When it came time to decide the game, it was Sloukas who took the ball into his hands.
Overtime. Down 1. 9 seconds to go. Sloukas with the ball. The rest is history. The Greek guard drained a tough three-point jumper from the corner to defeat the current EuroLeague champions, Anadolu Efes Istanbul, at home.
It was not the first time Sloukas beat a Turkish team with a buzzer-beater this season. Earlier this year, the guard buried a though two-pointer over the hands of Jan Vesely to defeat Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.
Sloukas overall scored 23 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists for a total of 23 PIR points against Efes. Against Fenerbahce, Sloukas was also terrific, registering 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists for 20 PIR.
IT WAS BAKLAVA. Asked whether the Kostas Sloukas tenure in Turkey helped him make game-winning shots, Anadolu Efes head coach Ergin Ataman joked that the reason was Sloukas eating a lot of baklava, a famous Turkish pastry, while he was playing with Fenerbahce.
"I think that the Turkish baklava that he ate in Turkey gave him the chance to beat the Turkish teams at the buzzer," smiling Ataman said at the post-game presser while delivering one of his colorful quotes.
SEASON-HIGH. Vasilije Micic is most notably known as a terrific scorer, capable of shooting from anywhere at any time he wants. This time, it was the day of giving for the Serbian guard.
The current EuroLeague MVP dished out 13 assists in the match against Olympiacos Piraeus, both registering the season-high and tying his career-high. The guard added 12 points to the assist total to collect 25 PIR points in a tough loss.
ONE-WAY STREET. After being outscored 2-11 in the game's first minutes, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv roared. For the remainder of the first half, Maccabi scored 47 points and CSKA Moscow had just 15. Even more jaw-dropping, the difference in PIR over that stretch was 66-3.
Maccabi was all over the place in that dominant run. Derrick Williams's 3 steals were more than CSKA as a team (2) in the first half. The discrepancy was so great that CSKA’s hole proved too big to climb out of, despite an Iffe Lundberg-led fourth-quarter rally.
400 THREES. Scottie Wilbekin was his dazzling self against CSKA once again. Wilbekin finished the game with 5 three-pointers, but it was his first that was most noteworthy as it made him the 11th player in competition history to bury 400 triples in his career.
Next in Wilbekin’s sights is a spot in the career top 10. He needs 17 more threes to tie Gianluca Basile for 10th place with 421.
NEVER A DOUBT. Two days after beating Zalgiris Kaunas on the road, AX Armani Exchange Milan returned home in style and led from start to finish after establishing a double-digit lead against Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz as early as the first quarter.
A 14-0 run in the third quarter put the outcome beyond doubt, and the hosts enjoyed a comfortable fourth despite a finishing flourish from Baskonia that came too late to threaten the outcome. Nicolo Melli powered Milan with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
DANGER FROM OUTSIDE. The team from the fashion capital made exactly half of its attempts from beyond the arc, 13 of 26. Multiple players scored from deep, but the real damage was done by Sergio Rodriguez and Devon Hall, who combined for 8 three-pointers on just 11 attempts.
By making 4 of his 6 attempts, Rodriguez ended a run of three straight games without making a single triple, while Hall's 4-of-5 meant he has scored at least 3 three-pointers on six occasions already this season.
SWEET REVENGE. Nikola Kalinic and Nate Wolters-led Crvena Zvezda overcame UNICS in their latest meet-up. The Serbian powerhouse made a redemption, after falling to the Russians 78-98 in the first duel.
"UNICS killed us, they blew us out in Belgrade, so we wanted to show that they are not so much better than us," spoke Kalinic post-game.
Zvezda's leader finished the match with 20 points (7/10 2PT, 1/2 3PT, 3/4 FT), 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, and 22 PIR. Wolters aided him with 19 points (6/10 2PT, 2/3 3PT, 1/2 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, and 21 PIR.
SLUMP. After playing solid basketball and winning against top teams like Anadolu Efes and Barcelona, UNICS have lost 4 out of 5 last EuroLeague battles. One of the key UNICS players Isaiah Canaan's form went down as well. Over Zvezda, he had an off night, ending up scoreless (0/4 2PT, 0/1 3PT), 2 assists, 1 turnover, and -8 PIR.
FINALLY. Panathinaikos extended the EuroLeague losing streak of ASVEL to five by defeating them on the road 76-63. It was their first away victory during this EuroLeague season.
Moreover, they secured their first EuroLeague win outside of Greece in 371 days. Last time, they took down Olimpia in Milano with a score of 77-80.
GREEN BROTHERS. The same as Zalgiris, in this EuroLeague round, Panathinaikos got their first road victory of the season, they defeated the LNB Pro A club, and skidded a 17-game losing stretch away from home.
EARLY KNOCKDOWN. Barcelona won the first El Clasico's quarter by 20 points, making it Real's third-largest deficit after the first period in EuroLeague history (8-28).
Barca did not stop in the second, while Catalans were leading against the Royal club 52-31 at halftime and their biggest star Nikola Mirotic scored only 2 points.
SUPERB BACKCOURT. Barca received a lot of help from their perimeter line: Exum, Jokubaitis, Calathes, Kuric, and Laprovittola. Not only they did great on the defensive end, limiting Real's guards to unexpected low numbers, they also combined for 59 points out of Catalans' total of 86 (68.6%).
FEELS LIKE HOME. Since Sarunas Jasikevicius' arrival to Barcelona, the Catalans are unbeaten at Madrid, WiZink Center. Six games, six wins.
"It means we are doing things well. It is never easy to win here," said the Lithuanian mastermind after the match.
DOUBLE GIFT. Nikola Mirotic, who turned 31 years old on Friday, not only got a win against his former team but got elbowed as well.
"There is no better way to celebrate my birthday. I'm proud of my teammates. Everyone contributed to winning. Besides, I received two presents: the victory and the elbow in my face," pointed out Mirotic post-game.
ONE-MAN STANDING. Despite poor team performance by Real Madrid, Walter Tavares was dominant once again. He finished the archrivals' battle with 25 points (10/10 2PT, 5/6 FT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 35 PIR.
LEGEND. One of the most emblematic European stars of the new millennium, Felipe Reyes, was honored for his achievements in the continent's elite. Before the latest edition of a rivalry, Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona, that he helped define for a new generation of fans, Reyes was named an official EuroLeague Basketball Legend.
TOP Plays of Round 26
Records of Round 26
PIRWalter Tavares Walter Tavares (35)
PointsWalter Tavares Walter Tavares (25)
ReboundsNicolo Melli Nicolo Melli (11)
AssistsVasilije Micic Vasilije Micic (13)
StealsKeenan Evans Keenan Evans, Derrick Williams, Elijah Bryant, Jordan Loyd, Dmitrii Uzinskii, Stefan Jovic (3 each)
BlocksVictor Wembanyama Victor Wembanyama (4)
3-pointers madeScottie Wilbekin Scottie Wilbekin, Marco Spissu, Nicolas Laprovittola (5 each) Results of Round 26
AS Monaco Zalgiris Kaunas 82-83 ALBA Berlin Zenit St Petersburg 76-67 Olympiacos Piraeus Anadolu Efes Istanbul 87-85 Maccabi Playtiika Tel Aviv CSKA Moscow 84-75 AX Armani Exchange Milan Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 89-78 UNICS Kazan Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 77-84 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 63-76 Real Madrid FC Barcelona 68-86
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