Photo: EuroLeague Basketball

EuroLeague Round 15 concluded with some incredible performances from UNICS Kazan, AS Monaco Basket and Olympiacos.

UNICS decimated CSKA Moscow, winning by 21 points, while Olympiacos kept Bayern to 60 points to remain unbeaten at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

AS Monaco put up triple digits for the first time in club history, while Mike James had a career-high in assists to lead his team to the win over Zalgiris.

CSKA concedes biggest loss since 2012

CSKA Moscow had a night to forget in front of its fans as they lost by 21 to fellow Russian club UNICS Kazan. This was the joint-worst ever home defeat for CSKA in the EuroLeague, with the 21-point margin only tied by a 60-81 loss to FC Barcelona in the 2012-13 season.

The first-half offensive performance was also one of CSKA’s worst, as the hosts’ halftime total of 28 points ranks second-worst at home in history.

The only time CSKA scored fewer points at home in the first half came in the 2019-20 season with 26 points against Real Madrid.

UNICS had a great defense and hot offense to show Wednesday, as they cruised home with tying a club record with 15 three-pointers made in a game.

“I’m very happy for this victory and I congratulate my players because beating CSKA in Moscow is very difficult. We controlled the game and had great three-point shooting percentage, 60%, and this is one of the reasons why we kept a big advantage,” Velimir Perasovic said on his team’s huge win. 

Night of records in Monaco

AS Monaco Basket snapped a five-game losing streak in an impressive way as they had to score 107 points to leave from Zalgirio Arena with the win.

AS Monaco set all kinds of offensive club records in the overtime win in Kaunas. Monaco scored in triple-digits for the first time with 107 points and set a new club mark with a PIR of 132.

The team also dished 24 assists, which is also a club record. From those 24 dishes, Mike James registered 14 to set a new career-high in the EuroLeague.

James’ assists as well as Monaco’s marks in points, PIR and two-point shots made are all EuroLeague-best numbers this season through 15 rounds.

“I have certain complaints defensively, but a win is a win, no big complaints. They showed really good character. Especially, it is hard mentally to come back and play strong in overtime after allowing points [in the last second]. But we dominated in overtime and we deserved to win,” new head coach Sasa Obradovic said on his first victory as Monaco’s coach.

Olympiacos defense destroys Bayern Munich

Olympiacos has remained perfect at Peace and Friendship Stadium thanks to its incredible defense. The “Reds” bounced back from a loss to Red Star with a huge win over Bayern Munich.

An incredible shooting accuracy in two-pointers, making 20 out of 24 attempts (83%), and 9-of-11 from the line (81%), allowed the Greek club to cruise past the Bavarians.

Olympiacos reached this game topping the Euroleague in defense at home, allowing just 67.4 points per game to its opponents, and it lived up to its reputation by holding Bayern to 60.

Giorgos Bartzokas players’ finished with three more points from their average 80.3 per contest at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

“I was really concerned about this game before this game. Bayern is a really tough team, they proved it by winning easily against Efes and, in the previous game, ALBA away. So we expected a physical and tough game, which it wasn’t finally because of our performance.

It was a very good defensive effort, and we also had the ability with our creators to read what exactly they gave us on offense, scoring almost 50 points at halftime,” Giorgos Bartzokas said on his team big win.