By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Unicaja is the first team guaranteeing a place in the Basketball Champions League Final Four. Game 3 contests will complete the field this week.
The win-or-go-home games have been a special treat for BCL fans, expanding way beyond the best-of-three series with plenty of group games falling under the exact same category. Judging exclusively on Game 3 in a best-of-three series, it has been 12 matchups so far with seven wins for the home sides and five visitors spoiling the party.
Reviewing campaigns with such encounters on the format, Eurohoops presents the Game 3 summary by season, stage, and teams.
List of Basketball Champions League Game 3
| Season | Stage | Teams | Game 3 |
| 2019-20 | Round of 16 | Iberostar Tenerife – Filou Oostende | 62-54 |
| 2019-20 | Round of 16 | JDA Dijon – Nizhny Novgorod | 75-67 |
| 2021-22 | Play-Ins | Lenovo Tenerife – Pinar Karsiyaka | 74-71 |
| 2021-22 | Play-Ins | Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem – Prometey | 75-85 |
| 2021-22 | Play-Ins | Igokea m:tel – Filou Oostende | 77-83 |
| 2021-22 | Play-Ins | Hapoel U-NET Holon – Besiktas Icrypex | 74-68 |
| 2021-22 | Play-Ins | Hereda San Pablo Burgos – Darussafaka | 68-80 |
| 2021-22 | Quarterfinals | U-BT Cluj-Napoca – MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg | 73-79 |
| 2022-23 | Play-Ins | Bahcesehir Koleji – Filou Oostende | 87-81 |
| 2022-23 | Play-Ins | Rytas – PAOK mateco | 82-63 |
| 2022-23 | Play-Ins | MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg – Limoges CSP | 94-96 |
| 2022-23 | Play-Ins | JDA Dijon – Peristeri bwin | 89-82 |
| 2022-23 | Quarterfinals | Telekom Baskets Bonn – SIG Strasbourg | ? |
| 2022-23 | Quarterfinals | Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem – AEK | ? |
| 2022-23 | Quarterfinals | Lenovo Tenerife – BAXI Manresa | ? |
Introducing Game 3 was initially set to decide the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals winners of the 2019-20 season. The coronavirus pandemic instead forced a pause on the action between Game 2 and Game 3 of the Round of 16. Resuming the season with a six-month delay, the first-ever Game 3s were held early in the 2020-21 season and the Quarterfinals were inserted into the Final Eight hosted in Athens.
Far from a usual situation, but that was the case altering the entry to the season-ending tournament and accompanying the ensuing Play-Ins. Game 3 predicaments resurfaced in 2021-22 and remained part of the format this season. Three more make-or-break situations coming up to decide which teams will join Unicaja in the Final Four to be played on 12-14 May.
Tenerife joins Oostende as three-time Game 3 team
Lenovo/Iberostar Tenerife emerged among the groundbreaking clubs and defeated fellow lasting Champions League original Filou Oostende. Back for a second Game 3 in 2021-22, the Canary Islands outfit also eliminated Pinar Karsiyaka moving from the Play-In win to winning the BCL for the second time in team history. Carrying the 2-0 record at home, playing host to last season’s runner-up BAXI Manresa in Santiago Martin marks the third Game 3.
Guided by Txus Vidorreta, Tenerife has enjoyed plenty of firsts throughout the seven seasons of FIBA’s top-tier European club continental competition. However, Oostende was the first team banking in the experience of three separate Game 3s. Besides the defeat mentioned above, the Belgium champions of the last 11 years and counting were knocked out by Bahcesehir Koleji in this season’s Play-In round and overpowered Igokea m:tel in the same stage of the 2021-22 season. Other two-time Game 3 veterans stretch to JDA Dijon attached to two triumphs and MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg packing an even 1-1 tally.
A second chance for Hapoel Jerusalem
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem is the only remaining team going to Quarterfinals Game 3 with previous experience in a similar setting. Prometey stunning the Israel team in Pais Arena was actually the last BCL showing for the visitors before being forced to withdraw its participation in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022. More than one year later, AEK is visiting Jerusalem looking to move through to the Final Four.
No longer undefeated on the road, the team coached by Aleksandar Dzikic possibly getting the job done in Game 3 would produce the first Semifinals berth in the team’s third Quarterfinals appearance.
Lasting originals AEK and SIG Strasbourg are finally playing in a Game 3 for the first time. The same goes for Telekom Baskets Bonn, a newcomer in the Quarterfinals as well.
The visitors make a threat
Maybe a best-of-seven or even a best-of-five series would get the stakes even higher, but considering Games 1 and 2 of the Champions League Playoffs, it seems like events from a much longer series compacted into two games.
Getting to know each other pretty well over the series is merely a minor part of the equation. Growing rivalries and tension expected in do-or-die games shape up very much to play for all participants, easily compared to longer series. Certainly, an exciting Basketball Champions League week, arguably the most crucial of the season. Teams to protect respective home courts is not safe to bet as shown in the 7-5 overall record for hosts in Game 3 history.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League