Game of the Week preview: Will Strasbourg or Jerusalem claim top spot in Group I?

STRASBOURG (France) - The final Round of 16 Game of the Week is set for a clash between the top two teams in Group I, SIG Strasbourg (4-1) and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (4-1).

The first time these two teams met, back on February 7, Jerusalem defeated Strasbourg 81-80 on a last-second floater by Levi Randolph.

 

The winner of this second head-to-head meeting will clinch first place in the group and homecourt advantage in the Quarter-Finals. Strasbourg lost in the Quarter-Finals last season and last reached the last four of the Basketball Champions League in the 2020-21 season (which culminated in a Final 8 due to the special circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic), where they ultimately finished fourth.

Jerusalem, meanwhile, lost in the Play-Ins last season and have never advanced past the Quarter-Finals in the BCL. If the clubs from France and Israel want to return to the Final Four stage of the competition, it all starts with winning this final Round of 16 game, which will lead to home court advantage in their respective best-of-three Quarter-Final series.

Strasbourg have won all of their five home games in the BCL this season, scoring more than 80 points in each of them. In case they win on Wednesday, they will equal their best winning streak at home in the competition (6-0 in 2017). Strasbourg are leading the league in field goal percentage, shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, but Jerusalem lead the BCL this season is two-point field goal percentage, converting 57.3 percent of their shots from inside the arc Jerusalem shot 72 percent from two-point range in the reverse fixture, in Israel. This was the third-highest two-point field goal percentage by any team this season. Strasbourg's Leo Cavaliere scored 14 or more points in each of his last two games, the first time in his 50 appearances in the BCL that he managed to score in double-digit in consecutive games. He had 7+ rebounds in five different games this season, a feat he had never achieved in more than three games in any of his previous three BCL seasons. Jerusalem have won their last five road games in the BCL and could equal their best winning streak away from home in case of a win against Strasbourg (6-0 between October 2018-March 2019); The Israeli club gave up fewer than 70 points in each of their last three road games. They had given up fewer than 70 points only in two of their initial 26 road games in the BCL. Jerusalem's Zach Hankins has become the first player in competition history to bring down 10 or more rebounds in five consecutive BCL games. He scored a BCL career-high 28 points in the reverse fixture with Strasbourg. [/unordered]

 

Team comparison by the numbers:

Strasbourg	Stat Category	Jerusalem
55.3	2-point FG %	57.3
37.5	3-point FG %	33.3
48.9	Overall FG %	47.2
74.7	Free throw %	64.8
23.8	Defensive rebounds	24.5
11.5	Offensive rebounds	9.8
35.3	Total rebounds	34.4
8.4	Steals	7.8
19.0	Assists	20.5
14.9	Turnovers	11.9
2.5	Blocks	3.2
15.8	Points from Turnover	16.6
36.9	Points in the Paint	34.2
25.5	Points from the Bench	26.8