Week 3 Wednesday games preview

 

MIES (Switzerland) - Week three of the Basketball Champions League continues with three games on Wednesday October 19 (not including the Game of the Week), as one matchup features undefeated teams, while the other two feature teams looking to get into the win column.

Here's a look at the three games on Wednesday:

Game 1: Darussafaka (0-1) v Bakken Bears (0-1) - Group E

Where: Istanbul, Turkey

When: 19:00 local time

 

Darussafaka won their first game at home in each of their two previous seasons in the BCL; in fact, they have won six of their last seven home games in the competition after winning just one of their previous three. Eight of their 10 games at home have ended with margins of seven or fewer points. Gabriel Olaseni scored the most points of any Darussafaka player on Gameday 1 in the BCL this season (14 points); he has scored more than 12 points in six of his seven games at home with Darussafaka and has been on the winning side in six of his seven home games in the league with that team. Bakken Bears have lost 10 of their 11 games on the road in the BCL, including their two trips to Turkey where they conceded 90 or more points in both encounters. Five of the six times Bakken scored 10+ three-pointers in a BCL game came while playing away from home; they have scored 8.2 three-pointers per game away from home and 6.5 per game when playing on their home court in the competition. Michel Diouf has scored 10 or more points in each of his last two games with Bakken in the BCL, but he is yet to do it in more consecutive games in the competition; however, he didn't grab any rebound on Gameday 1 after averaging 7.3 rebounds per game in his previous four games in the league. [/unordered]

Game 2: PAOK mateco (0-1) v Dinamo BDS Sassari (0-1) - Group G

Where: Thessaloniki, Greece

When: 19:30 local time

 

PAOK have won just two of their last eight games at home in the BCL; PAOK were losing at halftime in each of their last eight games at home in the competition, with six of those ending with single digit margins. PAOK have failed to grab more rebounds than their opponents in each of their last seven BCL games; they grabbed fewer than 10 offensive rebounds in each of their last five games but have never had a longer such streak in the competition. PAOK's Jalen Riley has scored more than 20 points in three of his eight games in the BCL, with all those games happening at home – he scored 25 points in his first game with PAOK (v JDA Dijon) but is yet to score 20+ points in consecutive games in a single season. Dinamo BDS Sassari are on a six-game losing streak away from home in the BCL, after tallying that many defeats in their 16 previous games on the road; Sassari have conceded an average of 93.2 points per game in their last 10 away games in the BCL. Eimantas Bendzius scored 18 points in his most recent game with Sassari in the BCL, but he is yet to score 17+ points in consecutive games in the competition; Bendzius averaged only 6.7 points per game in his away games in the 2021-22 BCL season. [/unordered]

 

Game 3: Unicaja (1-0) v JDA Bourgogne Dijon (1-0) - Group G

Where: Malaga, Spain

When: 20:30 CET

 

 

Unicaja and JDA Bourgogne Dijon will meet for the second consecutive season in the BCL, with each team winning their home game in the last league campaign; both games ended with double digit margins. Unicaja's home win by a 29-point margin (83-54) against Dijon is their biggest win in the competition. Unicaja will make their home debut in the BCL this season: they won four of their six home games in the competition, including their three games at home in the regular season in 2021-22 – all their four home wins in the competition ended with margins of 16 or more points. Unicaja's Tyler Kalinoski has made 2+ three-pointers in each of his last 11 games in the BCL, currently the best such streak; in the history of the competition, only three players have had longer runs with multiple three-pointers made: Jamal Shuler (14 games), Heiko Schaffartzik (12 games) and Sasu Salin (12 games). Dijon won their previous away game in the BCL in 2022-23 but haven't won consecutive games on the road since January 2020 (W2); their three away games against Spanish opponents ended with margins of 14 or more points (W1 L2). Dijon's David Holston needs one more assist to reach the third place in the all-time assists list in the BCL history: he currently has 306 dimes, as many as Tamir Blatt; Holston is also four steals shy of becoming the all-time leader in that category in the league (currently 88, with Jeremy Leloup having 91). [/unordered]

Game of the Week: Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (1-0) v MHP RIESEN (1-0) - Group E

For a detailed preview on the Game of the Week, click here.