Euroleague - I Feel DevotionYou are always assured of excitement and drama when it comes to the Euroleague but the games that took place on Thursday the 30th of October served up some new records and a good deal of history. There was plenty of joy and anguish for basketball betting fans but there is also no doubt that players, coaches and fans will have been thrilled and maybe even exasperated by some of the basketball that was on show in a busy night of basketball action.

Crvena Zveda Telekom Belgrade v Valencia Basket 76-63

A passionate home crowd was a factor in this massive win in Belgrade as Valencia slumped to another defeat. The home side offered up a stunning defence for the final three quarters of the game, taking the home team to 2-1 in Group D while Valencia now have a record of 0-3.

It was the Spanish side that made the early running but after the first quarter, the Belgrade side raced away with it, at one point having a margin of more than 25 points before being pegged back by the Spanish side. Boban Marjanovic served up 16 points, Marcus Williams offered 14 points, Jaka Blazic offered 13 points, Nikola Kalinic picked up 12 points and Luka Mitrovic also managed to get into double figures with 10 points. When you have 5 players getting into double figures, you know you are doing something right. Mind you, Valencia had four players in double figures with Dwight Bucks picking up 14 points, Pau Ribas offering up 13 points, Sam Van Rossom grabbing 12 and Bojan Budbljevic marked his first game of the campaign with 10 points.

Panathinaikos Athens v Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul 91-73

The Greek side made a little bit of history for themselves by picking up 18 three pointers, which tied with the club record. The home win ensured that both teams now have a 2-1 record in Group C and there was further celebration with the fact that Dimitris Diamantidis became the first ever player in the Euroleague to achieve 1,000 assists. By the end of the game, the player had clocked up 10 assists, which was only one assist short of his personal best. AJ Slaughter managed to offer up 23 points while Esteban Batista picked up 14 points. Nemanja Bjelica offered up 16 points for the team on the road and he was backed by Jan Vesely who offered 13 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic who offered up 10 points.

Alba Berlin v Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 69-84

The Euroleague champions moved onto a 2-1 record with a confident victory in Berlin, a result which leaves their opponents on a 0-3 record. There were five players in the Tel Aviv who hit double figures, ensuring that there was just too much for the home side to pull this game in their favour.

Brian Randle haunted his former team with 25 points while Devin Smith grabbed 16 points and Jeremy Pargo managed to deliver 15 points on the night. Guy Pnini and Alex Tyus also served up 10 points each for the away team and a strong 0-17 run in the second quarter was the catalyst for what turned out to be a comfortable win for Maccabi.

Reggie Redding was the main man for Alba with 15 points but Leon Radosevic picked up 13 while Jamel McLean offered 12 points. This match was the second home defeat of the campaign for Berlin and there is no doubt that this is shaping up to be a tough campaign for the German side.

Real Madrid v Nizhny Novgorod 112-83

It was a big night for Real Madrid as Jaycee Carroll grabbed a career high of 32 points and the team achieved a Euroleague record of 33 assists in the match. It places Madrid on to a 3-0 record and they are clear at the top of Group A. The previous Euroleague record for assists was 31, jointly held by Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv and Panathinaikos, but this was overtaken on a high scoring night in Madrid.

The final points tally for Madrid was the most that any team had achieved in the Euroleague in close to 7 years, and it is the highest Madrid win in the Euroleague since 2002. Alongside Carroll, Rudy Fernandez grabbed 14 points, Felipe Reyes picked up 12 points and Sergio Llull offered 10 points. There was also a couple of career highs for Novogorod with Taylor Rochestie picking up a career high of 23 points while Trey Thompkins had a career high of 9 rebounds to add to his 16 points.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul v Zalgiris Kaunas 62-65

In the closest game of the night, this match in Turkey went down to the final seconds but it was the away team that clinched the win. Both teams now hold a 2-1 record and it was Edgaras Ulanovas who was the top man for the victors with 19 points and 7 rebounds. It was his free throws with just over 12 seconds on the clock that made the difference, condemning the home side to a cruel defeat.

Unics Kazan v Dinamo Banco Di Sardegna Sassari 85-62

Unics Kazan celebrated their first win in this season’s Euroleague and it was mainly down to a strong second half showing. With six players making their way into double figures, the home team spread the attacking force around and it was D’or Fischer who led the way with 14 points. Nikos Zisis grabbed 13 points, Kostas Kaimakoglou offered 11 points and 8 assists, James White pitched in with 11 and both Curtis Jerrells and Keith Langford grabbed 10 points each. For Sassari, Rakim Sanders was the main man with 18 points but he was helped out by Edgar Sosa offering 13 points while David Logan offered up 10 points. This loss means that Sassari holds a 0-3 record and they are marooned at the bottom of Group A, while the win places the home side into fourth spot.