By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The win-or-go-home Game 3 of the Basketball Champions League has developed into an unpredictable setting. It doesn’t really matter whether playing at home or on the road. It’s all about surviving whatever the venue.
Diving into the next set of Game 3 fixtures, it can be important to recall previous similar encounters putting seasons on the line.
Eurohoops retrieves the Game 3 playbook noting an even split between home and away wins to go with steadily emerging usual participants and more.
2019-20
The fourth BCL campaign changed the format from a two-game series to a best-of-three series attached to the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals. The coronavirus pandemic impacting the sports world went into FIBA’s continental competition and replaced the Quarterfinals with a champion-crowning Final Four, after delaying the first-ever Game 3 fixtures by several months.
The schedule was delivered according to the initial plan for Game 1 and Game 2 of the newly-introduced best-of-three series. Game 3 became necessary for two out of the eight matchups but the 2019-20 season was suspended due to health and safety regulations. From March to September, practically early in the 2020-21 season, Game 3 finally surfaced with the home-court advantage clinching berths in the Final Eight.
| Home | Away | Score |
| Iberostar Tenerife | Filou Oostende | 62-54 |
| JDA Dijon | Nizhny Novgorod | 75-67 |
JDA Dijon went on to finish third in the Final Eight. But Tenerife was knocked out in the Quarterfinals.
2021-22
The Play-In Round incoming generated the next five Game 3 contests. Last season additionally featured a Playoffs Game 3.
From the home sides going up 2-0 in 2019-20, plenty of success for road warriors shaped a balanced overall tally of four wins for the hosts and four wins for the visitors.
Following the earlier direct battle, Lenovo Tenerife and Filou Oostende became the first clubs entangled in a second Game 3 but set up against different opponents. The Belgium champions, lasting BCL originals, are about to make it three do-or-die games by visiting Bahcesehir Koleji in the 2023 Play-Ins.
| Home | Away | Score |
| Lenovo Tenerife | Pinar Karsiyaka | 74-71 |
| Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem | Prometey | 75-85 |
| Igokea m:tel | Filou Oostende | 77-83 |
| Hapoel U-Net Holon | Besiktas Icrypex | 74-68 |
| Hereda San Pablo Burgos | Darussafaka | 68-80 |
| U-BT Cluj-Napoca | MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg | 73-79 |
Dropping Game 2 to Pinar Karsiyaka was the last defeat for the team guided by Txus Vidorreta as the Game 3 triumph launched a nine-game winning streak all the way to the second Champions League title in team history.
Among the four away winners, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg was also the lone Playoff winner on the list. The German club reached the Final Four by eliminating U-BT Cluj-Napoca and ranked third in Bilbao. On a related note, Hapoel U-NET Holon went from the Play-In Game 3 to fourth in the Final Four.
Game 3 stretched to Prometey and perhaps the most exciting best-of-three series to date. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to the team withdrawing in the Round of 16. The biggest ‘What If’ story over six, now seven seasons of the BCL.