Darussafaka Upsets Olympiacos in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague resumed games in post-holiday action on December 27th. Round 15 opened with five games.

Darussafaka Istanbul found new life as it snapped its 12-game losing streak on Thursday. It was bittersweet as they got back on a winning track at the expense of former coach David Blatt and his new team, Olympiacos S.F.P. Piraeus. The result was a stunner, for sure, as the last-placed team in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague downed a perennial playoff contender. Now at 2-13, Darussafaka still needs more than a handful of Christmas miracles to salvage their 2018-19 season. On the part of Olympiacos, the loss drops them to a 9-6 record and they are still in fifth place for now. Toney Douglas and Zanis Peiners led Darussafaka to victory with 19 and 16 points, respectively.

Olympiacos needs to make changes, whether it be in their roster, coaching, or system. They simply cannot afford to take losses like this from bottom-dwelling teams and chalk it up to a “bad game” as those can rack up and before you know it, it’s crunch time and you’re fighting for your playoff life in a do-or-die scenario.

Kirolbet Baskonia Vitoria secured the only win of the round so far, downing Khimki Moscow Region, 77-85. A balanced attack by the Spanish club was enough to lift them against their offensively struggling hosts. Shavon Shields did not miss a single shot en route to his team-high 15 points for Baskonia. Jordan Mickey led Khimki with 19 points but only a handful of his teammates could get it going on offense and they quickly fell behind.

Another interesting game was a clash between two top-8 teams. In this one, we saw FC Barcelona Lassa upset Anadolu Efes Istanbul 80-65, The win takes Barca to 8-7 and they retain sixth place in the standings, while Anadolu hangs onto fourth place with their 10-5 record. It was an inspiring win for them as they locked down the win despite star Ante Tomic seeing limited minutes in the game.

The upsets did not stop there. Maccabi Fox Tel-Aviv had the most exciting win of the round so far, edging out AX Armani Exchange Milano 94-92 in a barn burner that went down the wire. Johnny O’Bryant exploded for a monster game, dropping a game-high 32 points with five rebounds and five 3-pointers,

With more action yet to be played out tonight, there still is a lot of basketball to enjoy in Round 15 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

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