Fenerbahce started their EuroLeague campaign off in unconvincing fashion but they still held off Brose Baskets 67-66 in Istanbul.
This result though, along with many of the first round of games more than proves the competitiveness that the new-look EuroLeague will show this season. Nicolo Melli though squandered the chance to win the game for Bamberg as Fenerbahce survived.
“It was a very bad game from our side, but the victory was important,” said Bogdan Bogdanovic, who led Fenerbahce with 18 points.
“Sometimes it’s nice to win after playing badly, and we will watch the video and play better in the future.”
Darius Miller scored 17 in defeat for Brose Baskets.
Another game decided by a single point came in Vitoria as Baskonia beat Anadolu Efes 85-84 to their season with a victory.
Andrea Bargnani came good in his EuroLeague debut as he dropped 26 points to lead the winners. Tornike Shengelia split a pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds remaining to ultimately settle the game with Bryce Cotton missing the potential game-winner for the visitors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAiUjW83ES4
Barcelona came back from a 14-point deficit to beat Unics Kazan 69-63 in Russia and extend their winning streak against them to six games.
After trailing for the majority of the game, Barca went on a game-changing 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to snatch victory off an unlucky Kazan side.
Justin Doellman shined with 23 points for the Catalan giants with Juan Carlos Navarro adding 13, and eight of those points coming in that deciding 13-0 burst.
Panathinaikos stumbled in the third quarter but responded brilliantly in the final period to beat Zalgiris 84-76 in Athens.
The Greens outplayed their Lithuanian counterparts in the first two quarters of play, taking a deserved 37-30 lead at the half. But Zalgiris came back in the third to take a 52-51 advantage heading into the final ten minutes.
Panathinaikos outscored Zalgiris 33-24 in the final quarter though to seal victory. Nikos Pappas led the way with 19 points for the Greens.
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