Euroleague Tips with Previews – Thursday matches

• CSKA has a 20-8 record against Maccabi this century.

CSKA Moscow (4-4) hosts Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (6-2) in a battle of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague powerhouse. It is a rematch of the 2006 and 2008 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Games, in which CSKA conquered its fifth and sixth continental crowns. Maccabi bested CSKA in the 2004 and 2014 EuroLeague semifinals. Maccabi is currently on a five-game winning streak. James Nunnally (14.4 ppg.) is its top scorer followed by Scottie Wilbekin (13.0 ppg., 4.1 apg.) and Derrick Williams (12.1 ppg.). CSKA is on a three-game losing streak. Toko Shengelia (18.3 ppg.), Will Clyburn (17.9 ppg.) and Alexey Shved (10.8 ppg.) are its best scorers so far this season.

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (3-5) hosts LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (6-2) in an interesting game, as both teams arrive at Round 9 with good momentum. Zvezda registered a 33-point win against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in Round 8. Nate Wolters (13.0 ppg.), Nikola Kalinic (11.4 ppg.) and Luka Mitrovic (8.8 ppg., 5.6 rpg.) have been Zvezda’s pillars until now. ASVEL is on a three-game winning streak. Elie Okobo (19.6 ppg.) leads the team – and the entire EuroLeague – in scoring, followed by Chris Jones (15.9 ppg.) and David Lighty (10.0 ppg.). These teams traded home wins (3-3) from 1970 to 1988, and have exchanged road victories (2-2) from 2019 to 2021 to be 5-5 overall.

• Efes holds an 11-1 lead over ALBA in their EuroLeague meetings this century and has won six straight.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2-6) visits ALBA Berlin (3-5), returning to Germany for the first time since winning its first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title in the country earlier this year. Efes feature most of the players that lifted the trophy in Cologne, led by 2021 MVP Vasilije Micic (16.5 ppg.), Shane Larkin (12.5 ppg.) and Tibor Pleiss (8.5 ppg., 4.6 rpg.). ALBA looks for its second home win of the season. Maodo Lo (15.4 ppg.) has been its top scorer so far this season, followed by Oscar da Silva (14.4 ppg.) and Luke Sikma (11.8 ppg.). Efes is 13-1 against ALBA, whose only win against the Turkish powerhouse, 77-61, came on February 4, 2004.

• Panathinaikos and UNICS are 2-2 in their head-to-head EuroLeague games.

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (2-6) will try to shrug off back-to-back losses when it hosts UNICS Kazan (3-5) on Thursday night at OAKA Altion. It will be a special game for head coach Dimitris Priftis, who spent the past four seasons on the UNICS bench and had forward Okaro White with him there last season. Daryl Macon Jr. (17.4 ppg.) and Ioannis Papapetrou (13.0 ppg.) have been the keys to the Greens’ attack this season alongside Georgios Papagiannis (6.6 rpg., 1.1 bpg.) in the middle. UNICS had won back-to-back home games before at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne last week on the road. Coach Velimir Perasovic’s charges are 0-3 on the road this season, though two of those games were decided by just 3 points. Mario Hezonja (14.0 ppg., 5.5 rpg.), Isaiah Canaan (12.9 ppg.) and Lorenzo Brown (11.0 ppg., 4.6 apg.) are the heart of the UNICS attack.

• Baskonia has an 11-10 advantage over Barcelona in EuroLeague meetings this century, but Barcelona swept their regular-season games last season.

FC Barcelona (6-2) welcomes Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (3-5) to Palau Blaugrana for a classic encounter between Spanish League rivals. Baskonia has a 11-10 record against Barcelona in EuroLeague action. Barcelona, however, beat Baskonia twice in the EuroLeague last season. Baskonia head coach Dusko Ivanovic coached for Barcelona in the past. Barcelona playmaker Nico Laprovittola briefly played for Baskonia in the 2016-17 campaign. Barcelona is eager to bounce back from back-to-back losses. Nikola Mirotic (15.5 ppg.) is its top scorer, followed by Brandon Davies (13.4 ppg.) and Nick Calathes (8.1 ppg.). Simone Fontecchio (12.9 ppg.), Rokas Giedraitis (12.0 ppg.) and Jayson Granger (8.5 ppg., 4.3 apg.) are leading Baskonia right now.