EuroLeague’s beat: Isaiah Canaan’s nightmare and tooth fairy in Madrid / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Credits: Roman Kruchinin, Seffi Magriso - Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images, Zuma Press – Scanpix | BasketNews illustration Credit Credits: Roman Kruchinin, Seffi Magriso - Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images, Zuma Press – Scanpix | 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.

Tooth fairy in Madrid, a night to forget for Isaiah Canaan and UNICS Kazan, exceptional AX Armani Exchange Milan's defense, incredible FC Barcelona's run – all of that and more in EuroLeague's Round 24 beat.

EuroLeague's beat Round 24

THE FEARLESS FORWARDS.WhenJan VeselyandNando de Coloare down with injuries, someone has to step up. It's beenAchille Polonaramultiple times in the past weeks, but this time it wasDyshawn PierreandMarko Guduricwho stepped up big.

Pierre scored 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Guduric provided 15 points off the bench to seal an important victory at home against resilient ASVEL.

THE DUO THAT WASN'T.Elie OkoboandChris Joneswas the duo to watch during the first weeks of the 2021-2022 EuroLeague season. However, the guards, especially Okobo, slowed down during the winter months.

After averaging 17 PIR points during the first two months of the season, Okobo only averaged 10.1 PIR points during the months of December and January.

Okobo notched 23 points in the loss against Fenerbahce, while Jones scored 12. With Okobo struggling, Chris Jones' inconsistency has been slowing ASVEL down, it seemed that the electric duo was back on track.

Unfortunately, Elie Okobo will undergo surgery for a cyst in his right shoulder this Thursday and is expected to be out of action for 6 weeks.

MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE.It has mainly been a down year forMalcolm Delaney. After averaging 11.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in the previous season, the American guard averages only 9.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game this year.

When it got tough against one of the better defenses in the league, Delaney showed his leadership. The guard scored 19 points in an otherwise low-scoring match and helped Armani capture an important win.

HISTORIC DEFENSE.AX Armani Exchange Milanhave been known for their stout defense under coachEttore Messina. However, the team has hit new heights in the defensive end of the court.

The Italian powerhouse has not let their opponents score 60 or more points for 3rd match in a row. It's the second-best result in all of EuroLeague's history.

CLASH OF CAREER NIGHTS.After starting the game strong in the first two quarters, it seemed that Zalgiris might win the match, butJames Nunnallydisagreed.

The Maccabi forward made big shots throughout the entirety of the match and, helped by tremendous scoring fromScottie Wilbekin, got his team the victory. 32 points on 12/14 shooting, 38 PIR points - a career night to remember.

On the other side of the court, it wasMarek Blazevic's evening. The young center flourished with 20 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists for 26 PIR to mark his career-best numbers both in points and PIR.

READY TO FIGHT.After losing 8 games in a row and dealing with speculations about both coaching and roster changes,Maccabi Playtika Tel Avivare slowly getting back on track.

The Israeli club has now won three matches in a row. With the team getting hotter by the day and only 1 game from the Top-8 behind, a playoff push is all Maccabi is thinking right now.

RETURN OF THE KING.Mike Jamesis one of the most electrifying guards in European basketball. He played forPanathinaikos OPAP Athensfor two seasons 5 years ago, andwhenever he returns to one of the courts he used to play in, a show is guaranteed.

James exploded for 29 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists with a clutch performance in the 4th quarter to remind everyone who the best point guard in the EuroLeague is.

WADE THE WONDERFUL.Bitci Baskonia Vitoria Gasteizhave been in a losing slump recently, but they have one bright spot on their team.Wade Baldwinhas been on a roll in the recent weeks, providing much-needed leadership and scoring when several players are out with injuries and COVID-19.

During the last 6 games, the American guard has averaged 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists for 24 PIR, being one of the leading players in the entire league.

SCORERS KEEP ON SCORING.Jordan LoydandBilly Baronare two players who are known for having the ability to score whenever they want and the number of points they want. After being down 6 after the first half, Zenit needed to turn the game around.

They did. Baron went off for 24 points off the bench draining 4 threes out of 9, while Loyd was his usual best self with 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists for 30 PIR.

THE GAME OF RUNS.It was 68-68 with 08:37 to go in the 4th quarter when Zenit decided to take the game into their hands. Billy Baron drained a three-pointer withLamar Peters' foul for a four-point play to cap off an 11-0 run.

It only took Zenit 4 minutes to decide the match. When the 4th quarter started, the winner was in the air. When the Zenit's run ended, the winner was already known.

SUPER-DUPER KYLE.Kyle Kuricis probably the best pure shooter the EuroLeague currently has. Last season, the Slovakian guard was a member of the exclusive 50-40-90 club, shooting three-pointers with a whopping 56.2% accuracy.

Tuesday night, Kuric was perfect from the perimeter, making all four of his triples and totaling 20 points. It was the third time this season when Kuric scored 20 or more points, all during the last 6 games. IfFC Barcelonacan unlock this scoring machine, nobody is stopping them.

LATE COMEBACK.After leading 61-56 against last year's EuroLeague finalists with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter,FC Bayern Munichprobably thought they could notch the win against one of the formidable teams in the league.

Barca had other ideas, though, and showed why they are among the leaders the standings. The team went off on a decisive 15-2 run to finish off the match. The Catalan club had an 8-point lead with 50 seconds remaining, and Palau Blaugrana was buzzing once again.

JESUS, SHANE.That was Mike James' reaction for a reason. Anadolu Efes star finished the game against CSKA Moscow with 26 points (4/7 2PT, 5/7 3PT, 3/3 FT), 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, and 36 PIR.

HACKETT'S SHOW.Just like Larkin, Daniel Hackett also put on a fantastic performance. The Italian point guard accumulated a career-high 31 points (5/7 2PT, 6/10 3PT, 3/3 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 32 PIR.

He also made an incredible 4-point play at the end of the fourth quarter, but Vasilije Micic forced overtime in which Efes proved to be a better team.

3-POINTERS PARTY.CSKA and Efes combined for 35 3-pointers, which is the highest tally in EuroLeague's history.

Back in the 2003-04 season, Ekan Bearnais Pau Orthez and Virtus Roma also combined for 35 3-pointers.

A NIGHTMARE.That's the kind of a night Isaiah Canaan had. Against ALBA, Berlin Canaan scored 5 points on 1-15 shooting and accumulated a PIR of -12.

That's the third-worst performance in terms of PIR in EuroLeague's history. Only Luka Zoric (-14), Earl Clark (-13), and Chuck Eidson (-13) had an even lower performance index.

ICE COLD.UNICS as a whole had a night which they will want to forget as soon as possible.

The Russian team shot 3/23 from the 3-point zone (13%) and lost against ALBA 53-81.

HISTORY.Completely opposite mood was in ALBA's camp. The German club achieved a blowout victory and, on top of that, grabbed 45 rebounds, which is the highest tally in ALBA's history.

TOOTH FAIRY.During Real Madrid's game against Olympiacos, Vincent Poirier lost a tooth in the collision. However, Guerschon Yabusele had Poirier covered, presenting the lost tooth to his teammate.

DNA.In the second quarter, Real were trailing by 16 points but managed to capture the win (75-67).

"This is our DNA," Pablo Laso said after the game. "We showed character again. I am happy because we reacted in the second half. The goal now is to play with the same intensity during the whole game, which is not easy."

TOP Plays of Round 24

Records of Round 24

PIR James Nunnally

James Nunnally(38)

Points James Nunnally

James Nunnally(32)

Rebounds Tibor Pleiss

Tibor Pleiss(12)

Assists Lukas Lekavicius

Lukas Lekavicius,Shane Larkin(9 each)

Steals Paris Lee

Paris Lee(4)

Blocks Kyle Hines

Kyle Hines,Nikola Milutinov(3)

3-pointers made Rodrigue Beaubois Rodrigue Beaubois(7)

Results of Round 24

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 85-76 stat » Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade AX Armani Exchange Milan 57-63 stat » Zalgiris Kaunas Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 78-94 stat » Panathinaikos OPAP Athens AS Monaco 83-91 stat » Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz Zenit St Petersburg 82-90 stat » FC Barcelona FC Bayern Munich 71-66 stat » CSKA Moscow Anadolu Efes Istanbul 97-99 stat » ALBA Berlin UNICS Kazan 81-53 stat » Real Madrid Olympiacos Piraeus 75-67 stat » Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.