By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Limiting Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv to six points in the fourth quarter, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet rallied to an 87-75 win in Round 26 of the 2025-26 EuroLeague Regular Season. Fueling a fifth straight continental win, Jordan Nwora dropped 22 points, with Jared Butler at 17 and Codi Miller-McIntyre chipping in ten plus nine assists. Also, a clutch triple sent Nikola Kalinic over 3,000 career points. Shortly before tipoff at Belgrade Arena, the Israeli side confirmed a knee injury to Tomer Ginat and scheduled a re-evaluation for next week, with Elijah Bryant and Tyler Ennis already out.
Deciding a nail-biter in Telekom Center Athens, Jerian Grant took over with Kendrick Nunn unavailable for the top half of the two-game week and hit a go-ahead bucket with 2.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, handing Panathinaikos Aktor a 92-91 victory opposite Real Madrid. Former Green star, Mario Hezonja, previously created a one-point advantage for Los Blancos on a three-point play with 8.7 seconds on the clock, but 33-year-old Grant completed a season-high 19 points to secure a win for Ergin Ataman’s side. Kostas Sloukas packed a game-high 22 points.
The first of nine fixtures on Tuesday was held in Coca-Cola Arena, with Olympiacos dropping a five-game streak on an overtime loss, 108-98, to Dubai. The Reds went from digging their way out of a 15-point hole and forcing five extra minutes behind a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Evan Fournier to conceding the last 13 points in overtime. Paving the way for the team coached by Jurica Golemac, Dwayne Bacon and Mfiondu Kabengele shared a game-high 21 points, with the latter also grabbing 14 rebounds.
Growing the distance from second-seeded Olympiacos and Hapoel to two games, Fenerbahce Beko barely held on to defeat FC Barcelona, 82-78, after attaining a 20-point advantage during the third period in Palau Blaugrana. A fifth win in a row, and eighth across all competitions, was highlighted by Wade Baldwin IV getting 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and one block to record a Performance Index Rating of 26 for his tenth straight showing over 11. Tarik Biberovic produced a team-high 19 points.
In Istanbul’s Turkcell Basketball Development Center, Anadolu Efes bounced back from nine consecutive losses with a convincing win, 107-90, over Valencia, but Rolands Smits sustained a hamstring injury late in the third quarter, possibly adding to a long list of unavailable players for head coach Pablo Laso, including Shane Larkin and Isaia Cordinier. Ercan Osmani registered a team-high 20 points, with the game-high 30 points belonging to the Taronges’ Nate Reuvers.
With only four seconds available after Bruno Fernando knotted the game at 93-93, Jimmy Clark III beat the buzzer in Menora Mivtachim Arena and lifted Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv over Partizan Mozzart Bet, 95-93. Ending up with 21 points, the 24-year-old guard shared a game-high with Gabriel Lundberg. Sterling Brown put up a team-high 19 points for the visitors.
Forcing AS Monaco and head coach Vassilis Spanoulis to a fourth straight loss, Zalgiris led from start to finish to prevail, 104-87, in Zalgirio Arena. Azuolas Tubelis stood out with 26 points, a new personal best in the EuroLeague, and Sylvain Francisco extended a PIR streak with at least 15 to eight outings with 19 points and eight assists.
Confirming home dominance for a ninth consecutive fixture of the head-to-head series between the two clubs, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan took down Kosner Baskonia, 109-89, in Allianz Cloud. Devin Booker produced 21 points.
Pushing his three-point streak to 23 games, Andreas Obst tucked in five en route to a game-high 26 points as FC Bayern Munich beat Paris, 81-75, in SAP Garden.
Round 26
Dubai – Olympiacos 108-98 OT (95-95)
Anadolu Efes – Valencia 107-90
Zalgiris – AS Monaco 104-87
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet – Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv 87-75
Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv – Partizan Mozzart Bet 95-93
Panathinaikos Aktor – Real Madrid 82-81
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan – Kosner Baskonia 109-89
FC Barcelona – Fenerbahce Beko 78-82
FC Bayern Munich – Paris 81-75
Virtus Bologna – LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (4/2)
Standings
1. Fenerbahce Beko 18-7
2. Olympiacos 16-9
3. Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv 16-9
4. Real Madrid 16-10
5. Valencia 16-10
6. Panathinaikos Aktor 16-10
7. Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet 16-10
8. FC Barcelona 16-10
9. Zalgiris 15-11
10. AS Monaco 15-11
11. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 13-13
12. Virtus Bologna 12-13
13. Dubai 12-14
14. Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv 11-15
15. FC Bayern Munich 11-15
16. Kosner Baskonia 9-17
17. Paris 8-17
18. Partizan Mozzart Bet 8-18
19. Anadolu Efes 7-19
20. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 6-19
-Top six seeds clinch a playoff berth, and seventh through eighth advance to the Play-In Showdown