By Kostas Giataganas/ info@eurohoops.net
With the 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Eurohoops picks out the five best games up to Regular Season Round 28. Plenty of exciting contests to choose from.
The games of our Top 5 are ranked in chronological order. From the double-overtime epic in Athens to the Real Madrid versus Anadolu Efes collision and more in between.
Round 8 (14/11/2019): Panathinaikos OPAP – ALBA Berlin 105-106
Among the craziest matches of the season was held in Athens last November with the winner decided following a couple of overtimes for the only time this year. ALBA Berlin prevailed, 106-105, after 50 minutes. Martin Hermannsson paced his side with a 20-point, 10-assist double-double to overcome Ioannis Papapetrou’s career-high 39 points.
Panathinaikos OPAP missed its chances to win in the fourth quarter and in the first overtime, but Luke Sikma on a clutch three-point play with 8.9 seconds left got the job done for the visitors.
Round 12 (6/12/2019): Panathinaikos OPAP – Olympiacos 99-93
Another Panathinaikos OPAP home game follows with arch-rival Olympiacos coming to visit in December. Tyrese Rice set his personal-best at 41 points leading the Greens to victory in the challenging game that spilled into overtime.
Brandon Paul missing from the free-throw line prevented the Reds from generating a safe lead down the stretch of the fourth period. Georgios Papagiannis held his nerve from the charity stripe in the extra period for the “W” over Vassilis Spanoulis’ 18 points and Nikola Milutinov’s 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Round 15 (20/12/2019): Anadolu Efes – CSKA Moscow 80-81
A couple of weeks later, CSKA Moscow put a dent on Anadolu Efes’ superb run. The two finalists of the 2018-19 season met again, this time in Istanbul. The 2019 championship game rematch ended the hosts’ eight-game winning streak.
Shane Larkin and Mike James took over for their respective sides with the latter going for 28 points, including a clutch bucket with 17.5 seconds to go. Larkin did not make his following attempt ending up with 18 points for the night.
Round 16 (27/12/2019): Fenerbahce Beko – Valencia 98-100
Back in Istanbul in late December, Valencia upset Fenerbahce Beko banking a 100-98 overtime win. Bojan Dubljevic marked the match with a career-high 30 points.
Zeljko Obradovic’s team survived for extra minutes and even went up 98-93 before the visitors launched their clinching comeback run. Making the difference was a clutch three-point play from Jordan Loyd, which should have been ruled an offensive foul as Euroleague Basketball admitted.
Round 21 (24/1/2020): Real Madrid – Anadolu Efes 75-80
Closing our list a potential 2020 Final preview. In late January, Anadolu Efes beat Real Madrid, 80-75, at the WiZink Center.
A tight game was decided by Shane Larkin. Adding on his historic 2019-20 campaign, the Miami alumni scored 32 points sending his side to the “W”.