Βy Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce, Efes and Olympiacos will be tested in away games this week and they all look like the favorites to prevail – easily, in fact – over their opponents. Read the rest of the betting tips from Eurohoops.net.
The Turkish derby of Group E has a clear favorite. Darussafaka have five consecutive defeats in the Euroleague and the Turkish championship and they definitely don’t look able to stop Fenerbahce who are undefeated with a 3-0 run and in very good shape with six consecutive wins. The 6,5-point handicap is relatively high for a Euroleague game between teams from the same country, but the visitors can win by a large margin.
Another game steals the show this week, though: the el clasico. Real host Barcelona and will try once more to show a better defensive attitude, even though this is going to be hard. The Blaugrana can strike on the slow defense of the European champions and will probably score more than 80 points, exceeding the limit. Besides, Real have consistently conceded more than that in their last five games.
Lokomotiv Kuban have the third best defense in this year’s Euroleague with 70,8 points per game. Their average in recent games has gone up, but in their home game against Panathinaikos they can definitely show their good defensive face. The greens score 68 points on average away from home and they have scored more than 70 only two times out of a total of six games.
After the defeat by Bamberg, Olympiacos will try to avoid any more casualties against Zalgiris. The 6,5-point advantage is big for an away game, but the red-and-whites can win by a bigger margin since the Lithuanians are very weak as a team.
Cedevita are in bad shape, counting three defeats in a row, and Efes can definitely impose themselves in Croatia and in fact do so with a big margin. The Turkish team is in form and they can win by more than 7 points.
The betting tips
Lokomotiv Kuban – Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Under 70,5 points
@Sportingbet 1,85
Cedevita (+6,5) – Efes 2
@Coral 1,91
Real Madrid – Barcelona Barcelona Over 80,5 points
@William Hill 1,85
Zalgiris (+6,5) – Olympiacos 2
@Stoiximan 1,90
Darussafaka (+6,5) – Fenerbahce 2
@Nesine 1,70