Home teams dominate in Euroleague round six

Winning on the road continues to become more valuable this season as the hosts won seven of Round 6’s nine games, taking the record for home teams to a 72.2 winning percentage. Thanks to another game-winning shot from Nikola Mirotic, Barcelona is now the only unbeaten team left through six rounds after outlasting Fenerbahce 74-76 in Istanbul on Tuesday. Real Madrid claimed a victory over Zenit in St Petersburg the next night. Barca is alone at the top because Bayern turned back previously perfect Milan 83-77, getting revenge for their five-game playoff series result last spring. Elsewhere, Monaco shut down Zvezda 70-62; Maccabi took its third decision in a row against Zalgiris, 76-62; Olympiacos shook off ALBA 87-83; ASVEL edged CSKA 70-68; Daryl Macon Jr. set a club record with nine triples in a 95-69 Panathinaikos rout of Efes, and UNICS topped Baskonia 83-69.

Panathinaikos wins another Euroleague game

UNICS Kazan 83-69 Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

UNICS Kazan blasted Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz with a comprehensive 83-69 home victory on Wednesday night. UNICS made a fast start with runs of 10-0 and 7-0, establishing a 24-17 lead at the end of the first. It got even better for the hosts in the second quarter with an 18-0 run to go ahead 48-19, and Baskonia only scored 6 points in that second period. The rest of the game was a non-contest as UNICS cruised home. Andrey Vorontsevich led the home team with 14 points and seven rebounds, while John Brown had 14 points and five steals, Jarrell Brantley scored 11, and Marco Spissu impressed with 5 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Baskonia’s Wade Baldwin led all scorers with 23 points, Tadas Sedekerskis had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Matt Costello added 18 points. UNICS improves to 2-4 while Baskonia drops to 3-3.

Zenit St Petersburg 68-75 Real Madrid

Real Madrid grabbed its first road win of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season by edging Zenit St Petersburg 68-75 at Yubileyny Sports Palace on Wednesday. Real Madrid improved to 5-1 in the standings while Zenit dropped to 3-3. Thomas Huertel led the winners with 15 points. Walter Tavares added 14, Fabien Causeur 13, and Guerschon Yabusele 11 for Real. Billy Baron paced Zenit with 14 points, Jordan Loyd added 11, and Mateusz Ponitka 10. Heurtel stepped up for Real early, getting help from Tavares to give the visitors a 13-22 lead after 10 minutes. Zenit found a go-to guy in Baron, who struck three times from downtown in the second quarter. Andrey Zubkov and Loyd helped the hosts grab a 40-39 edge at halftime. Real found a go-to guy in Yabusele, who dunked twice and added a three-pointer in a 0-9 run that gave Real a 57-59 advantage after 30 minutes. Causeur and Vincent Poirier soon boosted the margin to 61-69 midway through the fourth quarter, and Zenit never recovered.

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 70-68 CSKA Moscow

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne picked up a big victory as it tries to establish itself as a playoff contender in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, prevailing at home 70-68 over CSKA Moscow despite squandering an 18-point lead. ASVEL built the big margin in the first quarter and watched as the visitors took the lead for the first time late in the third quarter. Elie Okobo scored 8 of ASVEL’s final 10 points, including a floater with 12.9 seconds to decide the game. Okobo ended with 14 points to lead ASVEL, which snapped a two-game losing streak to move to 4-2. Youssoupha Fall collected 12 points and ten rebounds, David Lighty scored 10 points, and Chris Jones pitched in 9 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Daniel Hackett poured in 16 points for CSKA, which saw its four-game winning streak end. Its record is also now 4-2. Johannes Voigtmann added 13 points, while Alexey Shved tallied 10 points and five assists in the loss.

Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 95-69 Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Daryl Macon Jr. set a club record with nine three-pointers in leading Panathinaikos OPAP Athens to a 95-69 victory over Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Wednesday night at OAKA Altion in the Greek capital. In just his sixth EuroLeague game, Macon erupted for 34 points in a game the Greens led by double-digits after 10 minutes and cruised the rest of the way. Nemanja Nedovic added 17 points off the bench, Howard Sant-Roos contributed 13, and Georgios Papagiannis posted 12 points, ten rebounds, and three rebounds in helping Panathinaikos improve to 2-4, but 2-0 at home. Defending champion Efes lost their fourth straight road game and fell to 1-5. Rodrigue Beaubois led Efes’s scorers with 16 points, Elijah Bryant scored 15, and Chris Singleton posted 11.

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