Euroleague Tips with Previews – Friday matches

• Real holds a 3-1 lead over UNICS in their H2H EuroLeague games.

Fresh off their wins in Round 6, UNICS Kazan (2-4) welcomes Real Madrid (5-1) in an interesting showdown. UNICS has won its last two home games and is led by Isaiah Canaan (14.0 ppg.), Mario Hezonja (12.0) and Lorenzo Brown (11.2). Real registered its first road victory this season, downing Zenit St Petersburg 68-75. Walter Tavares (13.6 ppg.) is Real’s top scorer until now, followed by Guerschon Yabusele (11.) and Thomas Heurtel (10.5). Real has a 5-3 record against UNICS in European competition and eliminated the Russian powerhouse in the 2007 EuroCup Semifinals. It will be their first showdown since 2017.

Zenit St Petersburg (3-3) hosts Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (3-3) in a battle to get to the upper half of the standings. Zenit lost its last two games against the two other Spanish teams, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Jordan Loyd (12.7 ppg.) is its top scorer until now, followed by Billy Baron (10.8 ppg.) and Jordan Mickey (7.5 ppg.). Baskonia lost against UNICS Kazan in Round 6 after three consecutive wins. Simone Fontecchio (13.0 ppg.), Wade Baldwin (10.8 ppg.) and Tadas Sedekerkis (6.7 ppg., 7.3 rpg.) are its main pillars right now. Zenit and Baskonia are 2-2 against each other all-time. In their last matchup, Baskonia beat Zenit 75-79 on March 18, 2021 behind 17 points from Alec Peters, who is injured for this game.

• Zalgiris holds a 10-8 edge in games against Efes this century.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul (1-5) hosts Zalgiris Kaunas (0-6) for a battle between teams that are starved for victories on Friday. Efes won its last home game and hopes to build on that. Elijah Bryant (14.5 ppg.), Shane Larkin (13.0 ppg.) and Rodrigue Beaubois (9.5 ppg.) are leading the team right now. Zalgiris is still looking for its first victory. Janis Strelnieks (12.0 ppg.) has been its top scorer until now, followed by Josh Nebo (10.0 ppg.) and Lukas Lekavicius (8.7 ppg.). Zalgiris has a 13-9 record against Efes in European competitions since their first showdown in 1993. In their previous matchup last season, Efes thrashed Zalgiris 89-63 with 18 points from Larkin.

• Panathinaikos has won both matches against Villeurbanne in Athens but lost the other two in France.

After respective wins in Round 6, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (2-4) and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (2-4) face each other at OAKA on Friday. Panathinaikos comes off a 26-point victory against reigning champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul. Daryl Macon (18.0 ppg.) is leading the team on offense so far, along with Ioannis Papapetrou (13.7) and Nemanja Nedovic (9.7). ASVEL comes off a brilliant home win against CSKA Moscow. Elie Okobo (17.5 ppg.) is its top scorer until now, followed by Chris Jones (14.8) and William Howard (6.5). Panathinaikos has a 5-3 record against ASVEL in European competitions. Last season, ASVEL beat the Greens 97-73 at home and Panathinaikos topped the French powerhouse 88-71 at OAKA.

• This is the first time Monaco and CSKA meet.

A historic first-time meeting is in store on Friday night when EuroLeague newcomer AS Monaco (3-3) welcomes perennial title contender CSKA Moscow (4-2) to the principality. One of the main focal points of the game will be Monaco star Mike James as he plays against his former team. In Round 6, the hosts snapped a three-game losing streak with a home win over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, while CSKA lost its first game since the season opener in a trip to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.