Match Preview
This is going to be the first head-to-head clash between Baskonia and Besiktas in 13 years, while both teams registered one victory and two defeats in the opening three EuroLeague rounds. The hosts are given a slight advantage in the odds.
Baskonia Finding Their Rhythm at Home
Baskonia stood no chance in the EuroLeague opening round at home, getting outgunned by Olympiakos 106-89. Shooting was a big problem for the Basque side here, landing just 30 of 80 field-goal attempts.
A very similar scenario was witnessed in the second round last week, as they lost the mini Spanish derby to Valencia 111-86. Tadas Sedekerskis had a great performance here, shooting 8 out of 8 on two-pointers and ending the match as the top scorer with 16 points and seven rebounds.
The Basque side earned their first EuroLeague victory last Friday, taking down Milano 86-76 in front of the home crowd. Their two-point shooting was fantastic here, landing 22 of 34 attempts, while AJ Lawson was named man of the match after scoring 16 points.
Besiktas are Quite Inconsistent
This season marks Besiktas' return to the EuroLeague, but their results and performances were awful in late September, registering three straight losses to Fenerbahce 72-59 (Super Cup), Valencia 96-94 (EuroLeague) and Anadolu Efes 95-81 (Super Lig).
Dusan Alimpijevic's side finally put an end to this negative run last week by defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv 109-93 on a neutral court in Belgrade, but they failed to maintain that form and suffered a convincing 95-82 home loss to Barcelona a couple of days later.
The Black Eagles returned to winning ways on Monday by outplaying Trabzonspor 90-81 at home in the Super Lig. This was a great team effort overall, with five players contributing double-digit points.