Efes Pilsen - Lietuvos RytasI respect Efes Pilsen and their home court but it's hard to find where Efes is better than Lietuvos Rytas as a team. They lost by 17 points to Maccabi 2 weeks ago, than were forced to cut 17-points lead with Leman and were not looking very well in last TBL league game. Looks like without Nicholas and Erdogan turkish team really missing some agression in offense where only Arslan and Penn are showing that they can score points on constant basis. But against tough Rytas defense it would not so easy to score points today. Also I don't like the way how Efes is playing right now. Their game is mostly based on opponents turnovers and Rytas is not a team which lose many balls.
It is still uknown if Nicholas will play today but even with him I can't see one sided game here. With Rytas defensive style and stable offensive performance I expect this game to be very close. Maybe Efes as host will take an early 5-6 points lead but in the long term I think Rytas will find the way how to make this game as 50/50. For Rytas it's very important to stay away Petravicius from foul trouble because Efes have very strong front line and maybe some help from Anisivomas will be required today to hold Turkish big players.
All in one I see this game to be very close and taking into account that Rytas have 9-2 against the spread (ATS) record in Euroleague I think this trend can continue easily here. And latest line moves confirm this. Bet365 allow to buy spread points and this is what I need to place this bet.
Prediction: Efes 72 - 74 Rytas
Pick: Lietuvos Rytas +6 @ 1.71 3/10 Bet365.com Armani Jeans Milano - Aris Public is not Aris side because they need this win badly to enter Top-16 phase. But hey. Milan won against them in Saloniki and now they underdogs at home? They still don't have win at home in Euroleague and we should not underestimate this factor. But also I need to say that Aris is better team, have longer bench and higher motivation to win this game. It's hard to predict how important this gameis for AJ Milano but anyway 1.80 is not looking atrractive for me to take Aris today. Aris also having many new faces in the team, while old faces are leaving club (Serapinas) and some (Castle) don't know anything about their future. So a bit strange game for and I will skip it.
Lottomatica Roma - Partizan BelgradeI will never believe that this game is not important for Roma as Repesa stated in his interview to Euroleague web site. This game is very important for italian because with a win they will probably be one win away from Top-16. And to feel safer they need to win today by 6 points or more. They lost Giachetti and Stefansson, but signed De La Fuente who is the same type of player like Stefansson, while Giachetti absense could be easily substitute by Ukic who will start today and will play 35-40 minutes. Roma is currenty showing good form which was a bit questionable after loss to Fenerbahche, but looks like that loss was only a concurrence of circumstances. This season have 11-3 record at home and 10 of 11 wins here was by more than 5 points. Good trend to believe in Roma today.
Sure Partizan will try to hold at least 5 points handicap and I can't say that they have problems with roster or with form. For sure they will fight but also they lost 6 of last 8 games in Euroleaguem and away games is not their strongest point. In Beograd game vs Roma was very complicated and Partizan was very good at offense what help to win this game. In away games Partizan has yet to find a way to score 70 points and this factor may become crucial today. Because if they will fail to score 68-69 points this game will be complicated for them because Roma is looking very well at offense when playing at home. And for sure italians will try to use longer bench and class difference to build early 10-15 points lead to secure it in the 2nd half. Also for Partizan most important EL game will be next week against Brose Baskets at home, where with big win they can claim place in Top-16 as a best 6th team.
Anyway -6.5 pts line looks like a fair one and bookies did their work perfectly here. But situational factor is on our side here and that's why I want to try this pick.
Unicaja Malaga - Le MansUnicaja is not seriuos about this game. It if oficcialy stated that Haslip minutes will be limited today because he needs some rest. During last 4-5 weeks Unicaja had too much important games and now they can surprise with some strange games. First game between these teams was very close and Lemans had very good chances to win that one but lost it. Today Le Mans only motivation is to get their first win but in away games they always losing by more than 15 points in Euroleague. If Unicaja will be motivated today I think they can destroy them, but I have a feeling that this game could be much more closer than line suggest because Unicaja can understimate them, and Lemans can prove that they are still one of the best teams in France.
16.5 points handicap would be fair if Unicaja would need 15 points win here but now Unicaja needs only 1-point win and this is a situation when everything may happen.
Pick: Lemans +18 @ 1.71 2/10 Bet365.com 
Free Picks 
Another difficult day awaits us in European Cups. I really respect the way how bookmakers set lines for Euroleague and Uleb Cup matches last 2 or 3 weeks. But it is normal because now they have plenty of information and stats to make perfect line (or at least make it close to perfect). Today I also don't see very good picks but will offer 2 games where I think things could go a bit different way that line suggest. Maybe I am wrong but this how I see Wednesday games: