Euroleague Basketball Predictions, News & Injury list

Euroleague Basketball Predictions

EuroLeague basketball tips appear under each mini game preview.

CSKA Moscow – Fenerbahce (1-0)

CSKA downed Fenerbahce in the opener of the series opener on Wednesday at Megasport Arena in the Russian capital. The hosts allowed Fenerbahce just 10 points in the fourth quarter, during which they shot 6 for 11 from behind the arc to pull away. Will Clyburn scored 20 points and dished 5 assists and Daniel Hackett also had 20 points for the winners. Nando De Colo paced Fenerbahce with 27 points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Host CSKA Moscow (1-0) looks for another win that gets it close to its 17th Final Four out of the last 18. Will Clyburn (13.5 ppg.), Toko Shengelia (11.2 ppg., 4.7 rpg.) and Johannes Voigtmann (8.5 pg., 5.0 rpg.) are leading the team right now. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (0-1), which needs to bounce back from its initial loss in this best-of-five series, is led by Nando De Colo (15.9 ppg., 4.1 apg.), Marko Guduric (11.6 ppg.) and Lorenzo Brown (9.8 ppg., 3.6 apg.). Just five times in 44 best-of-five playoffs over the years has a team won the series despite losing Game 1 on the road. Never, however, has any team overcome a 0-2 deficit.

Nikola Milutinov could miss the rest of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Mike James has been suspended by head coach Dimitris Itoudis.

Fenerbahce was heavily outrebounded in Game 1, 32-21. CSKA pulled down 11 offensive boards and had 13 second-chance points while allowing just 5. Without star center Jan Vesely, who is injured, Kyle O’Quinn and Danilo Barthel should see extended playing time around the baskets. Both are good scorers who need to play physically in the paint against Michael Eric and Shengelia. If Fenerbahce can also run its offense through its two best scorers, De Colo and Guduric, it should have a better chance to tie the series.

Coach Igor Kokoskov and five of his players are not with the team in Moscow due to COVID-19 protocols.
Jan Vesley remains sidelined.

Tip: 1 (-11.5) points at 1.90 with bet365
(Price correct at 23/04/2021, 10:10 CET, subject to change)

Barcelona – Zenit (0-1)

Zenit downed Barcelona 74-76 at Palau Blaugrana in Game 1 on Wednesday as Pangos led the winners with 19 points and 9 assists. Thomas added 12 points and K.C. Rivers scored 11 for Zenit. Davies led Barcelona with 18 points and Cory Higgins scored 15. Barcelona rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to take a 72-71 lead but Rivers buried a critical three-pointer and Pangos added the go-ahead basket, a left-handed floater that allowed Zenit to win it down the stretch.

FC Barcelona (0-1) became the first top-seeded team to lose Game 1 of a EuroLeague Playoffs series since the start of the competition’s round-robin format in 2016-17 and needs to bounce back right away in Game 2 on Friday on its own court, Palau Blaugrana. Nikola Mirotic (16.6 ppg., 6.1 rpg.), Cory Higgins (12.7 ppg.) and Brandon Davies (11.9 ppg.) are leading the team this season. Zenit St Petersburg (1-0) stole the home-court advantage with its Game 1 victory and with another win at Palau Blaugrana could put the regular season leaders on the ropes. Zenit is led by Kevin Pangos (13.3 ppg., 6.7 apg.), Billy Baron (9.5 ppg.) and Will Thomas (9.3 ppg., 4.8 rpg.). Only once in 44 previous best-of-five series has a home team lost Game 1 and survived. That singular example came in 2009 when Barcelona bounced back from 0-1 down to beat Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and reach the Final Four.

Barcelona had just 11 turnovers in Game 1, but Zenit collected 8 steals. Almost every time the hosts turned the ball over, it ended up in Zenit’s hands. Barcelona only had 15 assists, way below its average (18.7 apg.), so better ball circulation would be needed to have more offensive efficiency. Barcelona should try to run its offense through Mirotic, who was limited to 10 points in Game 1, and should use Kyle Kuric and Alex Abrines to open the floor with their three-point shots.

Zenit did a great job protecting the paint. Barcelona entered Game 1 with 54.9% two-point accuracy, but managed to make just 19 of 42 shots inside the arc (45.2%) and pulled just 9 offensive rebounds from those misses. Zenit, however, is without tough forward Mateusz Ponitka and possibly center Arturas Gudaitis, both due to injury, so a different rotation might be needed, playing small ball with Alex Poythress at center and giving Tarik Black more playing time. As always, expect Pangos run the show and use his high basketball IQ to dominate the game tempo.