By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos are hosting Maccabi at the Olympic Sports Center in Athens and they clearly have the upper hand to win. Read the betting analysis of all the EuroLeague games on Thursday.
Unics Kazan – Crvena Zvezda
Unics are coming off their very first win in the EuroLrague, on Fenerbahce’s home court, and they are going to appear enhanced against Crvena Zvezda with Orlando Johnson and Lorenzo Brown. The handicap of 7,5 points is rather big against the Serbs who have been defeated only by Panathinaikos by a wide margin. Unics, however, is going to be a different team and it’ll be better to bet on the Under at 151,5 points (@Bet365 1,80) since the two teams are among the five teams with the fewest possessions per game.
Darussafaka – Bamberg
Darussafaka have a 3-2 record and Bamberg is at 2-3. Of the ten games they’ve played, seven were decided by a margin smaller than 3 points and nine by a margin smaller than 5 points. So, when a bet for any one of these rivals winning by 1-5 points with a 2,70 pay off (@Bet365) is offered, it’s worth our attention, even with a smaller bet amount.
Panathinaikos – Maccabi
Panathinaikos want to defend their home court and climb to a 4-2 record against Maccabi whose appearances so far have been troubling. The greens are now setting a slower tempo in their games under the direction of Pascual and usually reduce their opponents’ productivity. Maccabi are very poor defensively, don’t have chemistry in the backcourt, and the absences of Landesberg and Mekel along the perimeter are going to cost them. The Under is quite possible, but a win for Panathinaikos by a margin bigger than 4,5 points (@Sportingbet 1,75) seems likelier.
Milan – Efes
Milan want to put a stop to the streak of three consecutive defeats and above all they have to pay attention to their defense. The Italian team concedes an average of 95 points per game and scores 90,6. Efes on the other side, is by far the team that is always looking for plays on the open court, scoring 82,4 points on average and conceding 86 points. The limit of 169,5 points (@Stoiximan 1,87) then, in a game between two teams that share a similar philosophy, seems to be small.
Barcelona – Zalgiris
Barcelona are the big favorites to defeat Zalgiris at home and improve their standing on the table. The Lithuanians are competitive in most of their games and the 10,5-point advantage seems sizeable for the decimated from injuries Catalan team. So let’s turn to bets on points that are easier to “read”. Barcelona have the best defense, taking their games to fewer possessions than any other team in the EuroLeague. Zalgiris’s limit is just 68,5 points. The “blaugrana” have conceded more in every EuroLeague game so far except for the opener against Unics. And the Lithuanians’ worst performance was the 68 points against Fenerbahce. So, we’re betting on the Over (@Stoiximan 1,83).
The betting tips
Unics Kazan – Crvena Zvezda Under 151,5 points
Darussafaka – Bamberg Win for either one 1-5 points
Panathinaikos – Maccabi (+4,5) 1
Milan – Efes Over 169,5 points
Barcelona – Zalgiris Zalgiris Over 68,5 points