Euroleague Tips with Previews – Round 16 – Tuesday

Two classic EuroLeague teams in similar situations will add another chapter to their rivalry when Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (6-9) hosts Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (5-9) on Tuesday. The hosts scored a valuable road win at FC Barcelona on Friday, while the Greens also won their last game, at home against ALBA Berlin.

Maccabi seems to have the biggest edge on defense, as the Greens have the second-worst one in the league. Maccabi is also third-best in steals while Panathinaikos stands last in those rankings. If Maccabi manages to get its defense going as it did against Barcelona, the Israeli champ could be in the driver’s seat in this game.

Panathinaikos will land in Tel Aviv with confidence from its last win. Defense is the biggest weak spot for the Greens and they will have to perform very well on offense to disarm the Maccabi D. It will require a big team effort for the guests to turn their latest win into a streak.

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (5-9) has won its last two home games and hopes to keep its streak going against the current leaders. Norris Cole (12.3 ppg.) has been ASVEL’s top scorer until now, followed by David Lighty (10.9 ppg.) and Moustapha Fall (10.7 ppg.). CSKA Moscow (12-3) is on a 10-game winning streak. Mike James (19.9 ppg., 5.6 apg.), Will Clyburn (14.6 ppg.) and Nikola Milutinov (8.0 ppg., 7.5 rpg.) are its pillars.

ASVEL has outrebounded its last two opponents and set a EuroLeague season-best by making 33 two-point shots against Maccabi. ASVEL can also be dangerous from downtown; it made 17 of 24 three-pointers (70.8%) in a win against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens. Reading the game properly should allow ASVEL to find advantages, either feeding Fall down low or getting its shooters involved. Norris Cole and Antoine Diot hold the keys and they need to see how their team can be most effective.

ASVEL signed Derrick Walton Jr. over the weekend.

CSKA is the top-scoring team in the competition (84.2 ppg.) by playing at a higher rhythm than anyone else. It leads the EuroLeague in fouls drawn (22.5 per game) and is third in three-point shots attempted (26.9) with a strong percentage (39.1%). It is also first in offensive rebounds (12.1 orpg.). CSKA should keep running its offense through James, find Milutinov down low for points in the paint and to try to get Fall into foul trouble, and look for potential mismatches through Clyburn, Toko Shengelia and Johannes Voigtmann.

Real Madrid (10-5) comes off a triumphant week with a pair of road victories in Greece, but lost Anthony Randolph (9.3 ppg.) for the remainder of the season due to injury. Edy Tavares (11.6 ppg., 7.5 rpg., 2.0 bpg.), Trey Thompkins (11.3 ppg.) and Sergio Llull (10.4 ppg.) are its top scorers this season. After a 1-5 start, ALBA (6-8) has won five of its last eight games, led by Niels Giffey (10.0 ppg.), Peyton Siva (9.9 ppg., 5.3 apg.) and Luke Sikma (9.4 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 3.7 apg.).

Tavares has been unstoppable lately and getting him involved should give Real a better chance to win. Not only he is changing games on defense, but is as effective as ever on offense (72.6% 3FG, 73.5% FT). Tavares gets double-teamed often, opening the floor for shooters Llull, Carroll, Thompkins and Alberto Abalde. As always, Real should find advantages in the open court, so Llull and Nico Laprovittola should push the team in transition as often as possible.

ALBA needs to be aggressive as it has lately, ranking fourth overall in offensive rebounds (11 orpg.) and steals (7.2 spg.). ALBA is also second in assists (20.0 apg.) despite being 11th in scoring (78.1 ppg.), which speaks wonders about its ball circulation. ALBA, however, is allowing 83.1 points per game and opponents have made 56.4% of their two-point shots. In that sense, Tavares is a big threat, so Johannes Thiemann, Kresimir Nikic and Louis Olinde should be Coach Aito Garcia Reneses’s best options to stop him.

ALBA is without shooting guard Marcus Eriksson and forward Lorenz Brenneke due to ankle injuries.