20 October, 2020
09 May, 2021
2 Kasey Shepherd (NIZH)
16/03/2021
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Play-Offs Week 3 Wednesday games preview

MIES (Switzerland) - Wednesday's three-game slate, comprising of one game from each of the first three groups, concludes the somewhat shortened Week 3 schedule in the 2020-21 Play-Offs.

The Group L clash between Brose Bamberg and Dinamo Sassari, that was initially scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed in adherence to the competition's Return to Play Protocol.

Turk Telekom (1-1) vs. Nizhny Novgorod (1-0) -- Group K, 17:00 CET


Russian national team mainstay Andrey Vorontsevich is poised to make his BCL debut on Wednesday

  • Russian international Andrey Vorontsevich, who spent nearly 18 seasons at powerhouse CSKA Moscow, signed with Nizhny Novgorod just before the trade deadline and is poised to make his BCL debut in Wednesday's game.

  • Turk Telekom are coming off an 81-77 home win over Galatasaray in Turkish BSL league action on Sunday, behind 21 points and 7 rebounds from Kyle Wiltjer and 16 points from Sam Dekker.

  • Nizhny were also victorious at home at the weekend, as they cruised to a 78-57 win over Tsmoki-Minsk behind 23 points from Kasey Shepherd and 20 points from the newly-arrived Andrey Vorontsevich.

  • Turk Telekom have an 11-1 record in the 12 home games they have played in the BCL, including a perfect nine-game win streak in their last nine. However, all of the Ankara team's four home wins this season were on a margin of eight or fewer points.

  • Nizhny have won their last three road games in the BCL, after losing six of their previous seven. This is the Russian team's longest winning streak on the road in competition history. This will be Nizhny's third BCL game in Turkey, and they have lost the previous two.

  • Nizhny are the only team in the BCL this season to score as much as 44 percent of their points from behind the three-point arc.

  • By contrast, Nizhny rarely take any trips to the stripe and are bottom of the league in both made and attempted free-throws, with 7.6 and 11.4, respectively.

  • Turk Telekom's Kyle Wiltjer scored 12 or more points in each of his last six BCL games, tying his longest such streak in the competition. Turk Telekom's two losses in the current BCL campaign came in the only two games in which Wiltjer played fewer than 30 minutes.

  • Nizhny's Kasey Shepherd is averaging 19.2 points per game off the bench in his last five BCL appearances. Shepherd, with 107, and ERA Nymburk’s Retin Obasohan with 115 are the two only players with more than 100 points off the bench so far this season.

Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon (2-0) vs. Pinar Karsiyaka (1-1) -- Group I, 18:30 CET


C.J. Harris has been on a tear in recent games and Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon have benefited from his great form to go 2-0

  • Holon are coming off an 83-74 win over Kumanovo in the BIBL Balkan league, behind 22 points and 7 rebounds from Belgian international Maxime De Zeeuw.

  • Karsiyaka are coming off a 75-69 road win at Afyon Belediyesi on Saturday, behind 17 points and 8 rebounds from Raymar Morgan.

  • This will be the third encounter in the BCL between Holon and Karsiyaka, with the Turkish side winning the two previous games back in the 2017-18 season. Both previous encounters were high-scoring affairs as the two teams scored 90 or more points in each of them.

  • Holon are currently riding a five-game winning streak in the BCL, their longest in competition history. The Israeli team scored 80 or more points in each of their last three BCL games.

  • Karsiyaka have alternated between wins and losses in their four road games in the BCL this season. The Izmir club lost 83-79 in their most recent road game, at Happy Casa Brindisi.

  • Karsiyaka have the best defense in the league in absolute figures, as they give up 74.3 points per game on average.

  • Karsiyaka are the only team this season to commit fewer than 10 turnovers per game on average, as they average 9.9 turnovers per game.

  • Holon's C.J. Harris had at least 15 points and 5 assists in three of his last four appearances in the BCL. Harris has made 39 free-throws so far this BCL season, only one fewer than league leader D'Angelo Harrison, of Happy Casa Brindisi.

Lenovo Tenerife (1-1) vs. VEF Riga (0-2) -- Group J, 20:00 CET


Sasu Salin has hit more triples than anybody this season, and he's shooting at an amazing 50 percent from three

  • VEF Riga are coming off an 83-75 road win at Liepaja in Latvian-Estonian League action on Saturday, behind 27 points and 7 rebound from Michale Kyser.

  • Tenerife were not in domestic league action at the weekend as their encounter with Hereda San Pablo Burgos was postponed due to the Spanish Liga Endesa's health and safety protocol.

  • Tenerife and VEF have faced each other twice in the BCL, in the 2019-20 Regular Season, with the Spanish side winning both games. The Riga team scored fewer than 65 points in each of those games.

  • Tenerife have won eight of their nine home games in the BCL Play-Offs. Their sole defeat, an 83-72 loss to fellow Spanish side UCAM Murcia, was the only of those nine games in which Tenerife gave up more than 75 points.

  • Tenerife are averaging a league-high 1.25 point per possession. The yellow-blacks are the only team of the 16 in the Play-Offs to shoot 50 percent or higher from the floor as well as 40 percent or higher from behind the arc. Tenerife are averaging 57.6 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from three-point range.

  • VEF though should be a tough match-up for Tenerife as the Latvian team hold opponents to just 42.7 shooting from the floor and are the league's best defense in that aspect.

  • Tenerife's Sasu Salin is not only leading the league in made three-pointers, with 26, but he is doing so on 50 percent shooting from downtown. The Finnish international scored 20 or more points in three of his last six BCL games, a feat he hadn't achieve even once in his previous 19 appearances.