Both teams has low motivation for this game because the winner is clear here and it is Olympiacos. Avellino will have important game against Montepaschi this weeken so coach may give more rest to key players in Greece before most important matches at home against Maccabi, Le Mans and Cibona where Top-16 qualification could be decided for Air Avellino. Olympiacos will dictate tempo of the game but for me it is impossible to predict what kind of game we will see tonight.

 

 

 

Real Madrid is progressing right and looks they are gaining their top form these days. In every game they 2-3 leaders while other team works as unit in the role of supporting staff. Offensively Real looks unstoppable while in defense they are not playing so strong as they did few weeks ago when they offense did not work well. Panionions on other side scored more than 70 points in all games during November and knowing Trifunovic style I think that today we will see quite attractive offensive minded game.

 

Both teams looks better on offensive end that on defensive and I think that 152.5 line is bit too low for this match. I expect 156-162 points game with Panionios scoring in the 73-79 points range and Real in the 78-85. 

 

Recommended pick: Over 152.5 @ 1.90 Bwin

 

Asseco Prokom - Montepaschi 

Motepaschi travelled to Poland 2 days before the match and it shows the attitude of Montepashi for this game. They want to win this game and stay alive in a fight for top spot in their group. Prokom has defensive mentality this year and have good defense which can stop any opponent under 75 points. Unfortunately Montepaschi has so powerful offense that can score 80+ points even playing low tempo defensive game. For me it is pretty hard to estimate the value here because a lot will depend who will dictate the tempo and scenario of this game.

As a prediction: Montepaschi will win this game because of better and balanced roster and more probable that game will have defensive mentality

Le Mans - Unicaja  

Unicaja this year started to win games away from home and get points even when game is not looking optimal. Right now their conditions are from best because they 2 very important players injured: Haislip and Cabezas. Without them Unicaja still has enough power to win this game but -5.5 handicap is not looking like a good bet for me here. Le Mans on other side always is dangerous and was close to Unicaja in Malaga but I tired to trust them in such kind of matches where they need a win badly. Let's be honest if they win today they still have too difficult schedule to fight for Top-16 so maybe their real motivation is lower than it is stated in pre-game interview.

Prediction: Le Mans 74 - 79 Unicaja 

Another difficult game. From first sight Partizan is favorite to take a win here because of home crowd support, good team play and history but.. Efes Pilsen is full of experience and has serbian Vujanic which is very important for this team. If he will be able to be a sould of his team this evening and prove his leader ambitions at Pioneer where he started his career than I see this game really a close one. Efes has size, experience and motivation to fight here because they must qualify for Top-16 and they have only +1 points against Partizan after home match, and one unplanned loss to Panionios at home and all these put pressure on turkish team to win in Belgrade.

As for me more fair line for this match should be Partizan (-3) or even (-2.5) but I have no desire to go against Partizan in Belgrade. More of that I don't like to trust turkish teams away from home especially when they are in questionable form. So this is another game to skip for me.

AJ Milano - CSKA Moscow

CSKA has a very important game in Russian Superleague on Saturday against Khimki and expect Messina to use this game as preparation for more important battle. In Euroleague CSKA already decided all questions in my opinion, while in Russia they still need a win against Khimki to claim a top spot until second round. Messina confirmed that he will return Smodish to starting five and this is another prove that right now he is trying to experiment with his roster. Don't forget that CSKA have met some problems with russian laws and now young russian players can't play in Russian Superleague until they will finish their military in army. So some experiments are expected here by CSKA here and I don't know how this will react on their game.

AJ Milano improved in last several games and I think they will try to give a fight to CSKA. Unfortunately class difference is too big to expect surprise here. CSKA will probably win but only Messina knows the difference of possible win.

Prediction: AJ Milano 69 - 81 CSKA Moscow

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