Euroleague This Week: Big names aim for win streaks

The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague returns to action on Thursday with Round 7’s match-ups headlined by a clash between the current standings leader and a perennial title candidate aiming to continue its upward trajectory. Here are the best of the storylines to follow.

Zalgiris Kaunas (5-1) sitting in joint first place while Real Madrid (2-4) languishes outside the playoffs positions might seem like a complete role reversal, but that shifting status is a fair reflection of the opening weeks of the season. The Lithuanian side has played consistently good basketball at both ends of the court under impressive new coach Martin Schiller, while Real has badly struggled to find its rhythm, making Friday’s meeting in Kaunas is a tough one to call. Real, however, did boost its confidence by holding off a challenge from streaking FC Bayern Munich last week, and the return to fitness of Anthony Randolph will provide another dimension to Pablo Laso’s team. Randolph was restricted to a combined total of just 10 points in his first three appearances of the season, but looked much more like his old self by providing 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot last week. On the other side of the ball, the game will be another opportunity for October MVP Marius Grigonis to boost his rapidly growing reputation after a sparkling start to the season. The 26 year-old guard has averaged 15.5 points per game, also contributing 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds to suggest he is on track to become one of the EuroLeague’s elite offensive performers in his third season in the competition. Downing the mighty Real Madrid to keep Zalgiris in first place would be the ideal next step.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2-3) shooting star Shane Larkin made a triumphant return to action last week by guiding his team to a much-needed victory at Olympiacos Piraeus. In Round 7, Larkin will play his first home game of the season with a visit from Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2-4). Both teams are currently achieving below the high expectations they set coming into the season, and Maccabi is seeking a swift return to form after losing to the other club from Istanbul, Fenerbahce, at home last week. Although the focus will be on Larkin, a key role could also fall to another of last week’s headline makers, his teammate Bryant Dunston. The veteran big man became the competition’s all-time leader in blocked shots and will now attempt to overcome a physically powerful Maccabi frontcourt which is ranked second in the league in rebounding with 37.3 boards per game, way more than Efes’s league-low tally of 27.8 on average. If Maccabi can establish inside dominance it would become easier to close down Larkin on the outside, so Dunston and fellow big man Tibor Pleiss could hold the key to the outcome.

Can CSKA keep building?

Another team coming back from an unscheduled break in action is Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (2-2), which will return to the floor with a tasty home game against CSKA Moscow (3-3) on Friday. It has taken a while for the new-look CSKA team to find its feet, but Dimitris Itoudis’ men emerged from a two-game losing streak to overcome Valencia Basket last week and will now look to put together a customary long winning run. Any return to Athens is, of course, a special occasion for Greek native and former Panathinaikos assistant Itoudis, and the same applies to CKSA’s scoring ace Mike James, who enjoyed two excellent seasons with the Greek giant between 2016 and 2018. But the visiting team will face a Panathinaikos team boosted in confidence by a strong home win over Fenerbahce in its last outing, and the emergence of Nemanja Nedovic – who fired 28 points in that game – as a true team leader will provide a major test to CSKA, James and co.