EuroLeague’s beat: Assist machine in Monaco and 'embarrassing' Barca performance / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: D.Repečka, Roman Kruchinin/Euroleague - Getty Images Credit D.Repečka, Roman Kruchinin/Euroleague - Getty Images

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.

Postponements, spectacular Mike James' creativity, John Brown's career night, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's drought, Billy Baron's show and FC Barcelona's struggles in Vitoria – all of that and more in EuroLeague’s Round 18 beat.

EuroLeague's beat Round 18

POSTPONED.Unfortunately, the postponements were the highlights of EuroLeague's Round 18.

EuroLeague postponed four games in total - Olympiacos Piraeus vs CSKA Moscow, AX Armani Exchange Milan vs ALBA Berlin, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens vs Zalgiris Kaunas, and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne vs FC Bayern Munich.

THE ASSIST MACHINE. Since AS Monaco has parted ways with Zvezdan Mitrovic and appointed Sasa Obradovic, Mike James has been on a roll.

The American guard averages 11 assists during the last 4 matches. 14 assists against Zalgiris Kaunas two weeks ago was his all-time EuroLeague high, while 13 assists on Wednesday was the guard's second-best result in his EuroLeague career.

HIGHLIGHT KING IS BACK. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's forward Derrick Williams was always known for his explosiveness and jumping ability, and he delivered with a bang in Round 18.

An electric first half of the match against Monaco was marked with moments of magic from the former 2nd overall 2011 NBA draft pick. He was slowed down in the second half, but the episodes are entrenched in our memories already.

45 DAYS OF DROUGHT. Maccabi have lost eight matches in a row. It has been 45 days since the Israel club last won a game in the EuroLeague. Interestingly enough, their last win was against this round's opponent - AS Monaco on November 17th.

IT WAS MY NIGHT! That was John Brown’s reaction after a solid performance against Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

In the UNICS victory the forward finished the game with 20 points (8/12 2PT, 0/1 3PT, 4/5 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals, 7 drawn fouls, and a career-high 28 PIR.

17-0. UNICS started the game against reigning EuroLeague champions with a 17-0 run. Despite that, Efes managed to come back into the game but in the end, had to admit defeat.

“We started game terribly. I was shocked, 17-0”, after the game admitted Efes head coach Ergin Ataman.

STREAK CONTINUES. Isaiah Canaan contributed to the win with 9 points and three 3-pointers. The American guard made at least one 3-pointer in all 18 EuroLeague games this season.

BILLY SAVES THE DAY. Billy Baron took care of Zenit St. Petersburg as he accumulated season-high 25 points (4/4 2PT, 5/9 3PT, 2/3 FT), 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, 5 drawn fouls, and a season-high 30 PIR in a win against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.

FRIENDLY RETURN. Jordan Loyd made his comeback to Belgrade after last season with Crvena Zvezda, but he didn’t do too much damage.

The American guard finished the game with 8 points (3/6 2PT, 0/4 3PT, 2/2 FT), 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, and 8 PIR.

59. That’s how many days FC Barcelona didn’t suffer a defeat in the EuroLeague. However, the Catalans didn’t stand a chance against Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (75-94) on Thursday and their 9-game winning streak came to an end.

A BIT EMBARRASSING. Barcelona’s head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius didn’t hide his disappointment after a crushing defeat.

"Congratulations to Baskonia, it was clearly the only team on the court today. It was a little bit embarrassing for me to stand there on the sidelines and to see some of the things, to see how one team is jumping over the heads and running the fast break, and making everything so easy, and we are standing and giving it," Saras said after the game.

DEFENSIVE SLUMP. Barcelona came into the game with the No. 1 defense, having allowed just 76.1 points per game. But Baskonia was the third straight team to score at least 82 points against Barcelona. Baskonia scored a season-high 94 points after averaging just 70.1 points before the game - the second-fewest in the league.

A GIFT FROM LITHUANIA. Jasikevicius witnessed the best game of the season of his fellow countryman Rokas Giedraitis.

Giedraitis accumulated a game-high 20 points (2/4 2PT, 5/6 3PT, 1/1 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 drawn fouls, and a season-high 25 PIR.

RETURN. Cory Higgins made his comeback after missing nine games. He played only 9 minutes in which he accumulated 2 points (1/3 2PT), 1 rebound, and 1 PIR.

TOP Plays of Round 18

Records of Round 18

PIR Scottie Wilbekin

Scottie Wilbekin(33)

Points Scottie Wilbekin

Scottie Wilbekin(30)

Rebounds Mateusz Ponitka

Mateusz Ponitka (11)

Assists Mike James

Mike James (13)

Steals John Brown

John Brown(5)

Blocks Ante Zizic

Ante ZizicOgnjen Kuzmic (2 each)

3-pointers made Rokas Giedraitis Billy BaronRokas GiedraitisScottie Wilbekin (5 each)

Results of Round 18

Monaco Basket Maccabi Tel Aviv 82-76 stat » UNIKS Kazan Anadolu Efes Istanbul 75-67 stat » Crvena Zvezda Belgrade Zenit Saint Petersburg 76-80 stat » Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz FC Barcelona 94-75 stat » Thank you for being with us! Subscribe to BN+ and browse ad-free.