Euroleague Tips with Previews – Friday matches

• ALBA holds a 5-1 advantage in head-to-head games against Crvena Zvezda.

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (2-2) and its league-best defense welcome ALBA Berlin (1-3) to the legendary Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in the Serbian capital on Friday. Zvezda has won its only home game thus far and has allowed just 65.8 points per game through four rounds. Its two losses have come on the road at CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul by a combined margin of 6 points.

ALBA is coming off a three-game homestand during which it registered its only win of the season so far. The Berliners have been playing without a starting sharpshooter Marcus Eriksson and its frontcourt has been decimated by injuries to big men Ben Lammers, Johannes Thiemann and Christ Koumadje. ALBA swept Zvezda last season, including an 84-90 overtime win in Belgrade with Maodo Lo scoring 21 points with 6 assists.

• CSKA is without injured big men Nikola Milutinov and Toko Shengelia.

CSKA Moscow (3-1) takes on Olympiacos Piraeus (3-1) in Round 5 on Friday in a battle between two of the highest-ranked teams in the competition. It is a rematch of the 2012 EuroLeague championship game, in which Olympiacos rallied from a 19-point deficit in the final 13 minutes to get a last-second 61-62 win on a title-clinching shot by Georgios Printezis. Olympiacos also beat CSKA in the 2013, 2015 and 2017 EuroLeague semifinals. CSKA, however, has a 26-16 record against the Greek powerhouse in European competitions.

CSKA comes off a hard-fought 78-76 home victory in Round 4 against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. Without the injured Marius Grigonis, Toko Shengelia and Nikola Milutinov, CSKA relied on Will Clyburn, Alexey Shved and Johannes Voigtmann to lead the way. CSKA signed Kenneth Faried, who already saw playing time in the VTB United League and could play against the Reds. Olympiacos has been strong so far, only losing against still-undefeated FC Barcelona in overtime. In Round 4, Olympiacos topped Zalgiris Kaunas 83-68 behind 17 points from Kostas Sloukas

• This is the first official game between Baskonia and Monaco.

After winning both of its games in the two-round week, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz looks for a third straight win when it hosts AS Monaco on Friday. Baskonia (2-2) won both those games on the road and now returns home, where it is 0-1 this season after falling to still undefeated AX Armani Exchange Milan in Round 2. Coach Ivanovic’s men bested ALBA Berlin in the German capital in Round 4 as Simone Fontecchio scored 17 and Jayson Granger added 15 points and 6 assists.

Monaco (2-2) started the season with back-to-back wins before stumbling against Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in the two-round week. Coach Mitrovic’s charges gave the 2021 runner-up a scare in Round 4 by taking Barcelona to overtime before losing 81-85. Mike James led the attack with 16 points and Will Thomas added 15 points and 9 boards. This game marks the first-ever between the clubs.

• This is a re-match of last seasons’ best-of-five playoff series which Barcelona won 3-2.

FC Barcelona (4-0) takes on Zenit St Petersburg (3-1) in Round 5 on Friday in what will be a very special night at Palau Blaugrana. Zenit head coach Xavi Pascual coached Barcelona to its last EuroLeague title in 2010. Barcelona is taking the opportunity to honor the team that lifted the 2010 EuroLeague trophy in a pre-game ceremony. Barcelona comes off an 81-85 road win at AS Monaco in Round 4 behind 27 points from Brandon Davies. Zenit bested FC Bayern Munich 79-71 with 18 points from Jordan Mickey.

This is a rematch of a memorable EuroLeague Playoffs series last season, in which both teams beat each other at home and on the road. When the dust settled, Barcelona had downed Zenit 3-2 and clinched its first Final Four ticket since 2014. Barcelona is 6-3 against Zenit since their first showdown on October 11, 2019. Barcelona head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius played for Coach Pascual during the 2012-13 campaign and reached the Final Four.