EuroLeague Round 3 tipped off on Tuesday night and saw two powerhouses face major upsets.
Anadolu Efes remained winless in the competition, following its road loss to ASVEL Villeurbanne (75-73). The defending champions dominated for the majority of the game and led by as many as 19 (37-56).
Yet, the French came back and outscored their opponents 22-11 in the fourth quarter to turn things around. With the game tied at 73, Kostas Antetokounmpo made the two-pointer and sealed the deal for ASVEL.
Thanks to this win, Villeurbanne climbed to 3-0 in the EuroLeague standings. On the other hand, Efes is at the bottom, with an 0-3 record.
At Mercedes Benz-Arena, ALBA Berlin crushed Fenerbahce in the second half and cruised to an 84-70 home victory. The Germans trailed by 10 late in the second quarter (25-35).
Yet, they fought back and dominated the Turks in the second half. Playing excellent on both ends, ALBA outscored Fenerbahce 57-35 and cruised to the victory.
This was the first EuroLeague win for ALBA, which improved to 1-2. For their part, Fenerbahce have the same record (1-2) and have lost two straight.
In Moscow, Tornike Shengelia exploded and led CSKA past Zenit Saint Petersburg at home (77-67). The Georgian power forward went for a career-high 33 points. In addition, he missed only eight shots (12/20) and had a PIR of 36.
The Muscovites made a great start, but Zenit remained close to the game (36-31, 59-52). With Shengelia and Will Clyburn (16 points) standing tall, though, CSKA Moscow secured its second win in three EuroLeague games. Both teams now have an identical record (2-1).
In a crazy game in Kazan, UNICS survived a late thriller over Bayern Munich and protected its home court (73-70). The Bavarians led by as many as 16 in the first half (19-35).
But, a 48-20 run brought the Russians very close to the win (67-55). The visitors attempted a late comeback (70-67), but ran out of time and lost their third straight.
UNICS improved to 1-2 on the table. On the contrary, Bayern is still winless in the EuroLeague (0-3).
Baskonia earned its first EuroLeague win this season after downing Panathinaikos at Fernando Buesa Arena. The “Greens” trailed by 11 in the first half (49-38), but managed to tie the game at 69.
However, two free throws from Jayson Granger and a missed three-pointer by Ioannis Papapetrou at the buzzer gave Baskonia the 81-79 victory. Both teams now have 1-2 records.
The last game of the first day of EuroLeague Round 3 saw Armani Milano triumph over Maccabi Tel-Aviv at home (83-72).
The Italians were unstoppable from start to finish, led by as many as 22 twice (52-30, 57-35) and cruised to the win. On the other hand, Maccabi made a poor performance on both ends and lost its second game in the league (1-2).
ASVEL Villeurbanne and Armani Milano are the only clubs with three wins in the EuroLeague. Round 3 comes to the end with three games on Wednesday.
