Week 1 Wednesday Play-In Games Preview
MIES (Switzerland) - The first week of the Basketball Champions League Play-Ins continue on Wednesday January 4 with four more exciting matchups, as teams will be looking to grab the upper hand in their respective series.
Here's a look at the four games on Wednesday:
Game 1: D2 Bahcesehir College (3-3) v C3 Filou Oostende (3-3)
Where: Istanbul, Turkey
When: 18:00 CET
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- Bahcesehir lost their most recent home game, 92-60 v Surne Bilbao, their heaviest defeat in the BCL, after winning their previous two home games; they were always trailing at the start of the fourth quarter in each of their three home games.
- Bahcesehir's Jerry Boutsiele has grabbed more than five rebounds in each of his 12 games in the BCL; he is one of only three players averaging more than 9 rebounds and scoring more than 13 points per game in the history of the competition (min. 10 games – with Babacar Toure and Vladimir Stimac).
- Oostende have won their last two games in the BCL and will attempt to win three in a row for the first time since December 2019-January 2020 (3-0); they won their last away game in Turkey 91-85 v Galatasaray this season, after losing each of their previous five trips there.
- Oostende have scored 21.7 percent of their points off fast break situations, the highest ratio in the BCL in 2022-23; however, Bahcesehir have conceded more than 10 points from fast break in just one of their last five games in the league.
- Keye van der Vuurst de Vries has scored 10+ points in his last two BCL games with Oostende but has never had a longer such streak in the competition; he has averaged 7.8 points and 7.0 assists per game in his four BCL trips to Turkey.
Game 2: B2 AEK (3-3) v A3 Tofas Bursa (2-4)
Where: Athens, Greece
When: 18:30 CET
- AEK have won their last two games in the BCL, as many wins as in their previous 10 games; they were ahead at the beginning of the fourth quarter in only one of their last 17 games in the BCL.
- AEK have conceded 6.7 points per game in fast break plays and 7.2 off second chance situations, both the best defensive averages in the BCL in 2022-23; AEK have conceded fewer than eight points in fast break situations in four of their six league games this season.
- Tofas won their last away game in the BCL (77-64 v Falco Szombathely) after losing their previous five; however, six of their last seven away defeats in the league ended up with margins of five points or fewer.
- Tofas have conceded 31.8 points per game in the first half, fewer than any other team in the BCL this season; they are the only team conceding fewer than 16 points per game in the first quarter (15.8).
- Tofas' Rob Gray has scored more than 25 points in three of his six BCL games – only TJ Shorts II has had more such games this season (5); however, Tofas are yet to win a game when Gray scores 20+ points.
Game 3: C2 Hapoel Atsmon Holon (4-2) v D3 Igokea m:tel (3-3)
Where: Holon, Israel
When: 20:00 CET
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- Holon have won their last eight home games in the BCL, however their last home defeat came in their first play-ins game last season, against Besiktas (73-72); Holon have scored more than 80 points in each of their last six home games after scoring that many points in only two of their previous 13 home games.
- Holon have scored 87.1 percent of their free-throws, the highest ratio in the BCL this season; on the other side, Igokea have the lowest scoring percentage from the foul line (64.4 percent).
- Joe Ragland is 10 assists away from becoming the fifth player to reach 300+ assists in BCL history; he has 10+ assists in each of his last two games with Holon but has never had a longer such streak in the competition.
- Igokea have won their last two away games in the BCL, as many wins as they garnered in their first 11 games away from home in the competition; each of their last three away games ended up with margins of fewer than five points.
- Igokea have made (22.3) and attempted (43.5) the most two-point shots per game in the BCL this season; they are also the team to have made the most points per game in the paint (39.7).
Game 4: F2 S.L. Benfica (4-2) v E3 Darussafaka (2-4)
Where: Lisbon, Portugal
When: 20:30 CET
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- Benfica lost their last game in the BCL (79-59 at home against Limoges CSP) but are yet to lose consecutive games in the competition; their two defeats in the BCL came while playing on their own court, each by margins of 19 points or more.
- Benfica's Toney Douglas has scored more than 10 points in five of his six BCL games, including in his last four; Douglas has scored a three-pointer and has recorded a steal in each of his six appearances in the league.
- Darussafaka have lost their last two BCL games, their longest losing sequence since a run of three defeats in December 2021-January 2022 that included their first game of the Play-Ins last season (83-78 away in San Pablo Burgos); Darussafaka have won the first quarter in eight of their last nine BCL games.
- Darussafaka have conceded just 0.96 points per possession, the best defensive ratio in the BCL in 2022-23 – only them and Surne Bilbao (0.98) have conceded fewer than 1 point per possession in the league this season.
- Dogus Ozdemiroglu has scored 16 points and 17 points in his last two BCL games with Darussafaka but is yet to score more than 15+ points in more consecutive games; he has made 2+ steals in each of his last four games in the BCL.