MIES (Switzerland) - Unicaja and Nymburk have already booked their spots in the Round of 16. However, there are plenty of other teams who still have to figure out their short-term future in the Basketball Champions League on Tuesday.
If you need more reason to take a closer look at all eight games to begin the last week of the BCL Regular Season, this preview is here to help with main protagonists, interesting stats, and results from domestic weekends.
AEK Betsson BC (3-2) vs. Telekom Baskets Bonn (4-1) - Group E, 18:30 CET
This will be the sixth meeting between AEK Betsson BC and Telekom Baskets Bonn in the BCL, the Greek side won the first two encounters, but lost the following three; Bonn won 93-74 in the reverse fixture against AEK this season, the only one of their five meetings that ended with a double-digit margin.
AEK have won their last seven home games in the BCL Regular Season, by an average margin of 13.4 points; AEK have scored 80+ points and allowed fewer than 80 points in each of their last six home games in the Regular Season.
Bonn have won their last four games in the BCL, but have won more in succession once in a single season before, a run of 11 straight wins in 2022-23; they have won seven of their previous nine games against Greek sides in the Regular Season.
Thomas Kennedy (Bonn) is averaging 11.8 points and 9.8 rebounds in the BCL this season, collecting three double-doubles, including one in the reverse fixture against AEK (16pts, 10reb). His three double-doubles are the most for a player in the League this season.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas (AEK) has scored 10+ points in each of his last four games, his best such run in the BCL Regular Season; he has averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in his three meetings with Bonn in this competition, scoring 10+ points on each occasion.
Talking about the Lithuanian forward, he was crucial in giving AEK the 83-81 road win against Maroussi, scoring 20 points in 25 minutes of action in Greece this past weekend; Bonn dropped to the 10th position in the Basketball Bundesliga standings, suffering a 92-73 setback against Brose Bamberg.
VEF Riga (1-4) vs. Maccabi Ramat-Gan (2-3) - Group E, 18:30 CET
VEF Riga have only won four of their last 20 games in the BCL. However, each of their last eight wins in the competition came while playing at home. The Latvians were trailing at halftime in each of their five BCL games this season.
Maccabi Ramat-Gan have won two of their five BCL games, including the reverse fixture against Riga (78-71), but they were trailing at the end of the 3rd quarter in each of their five games; following their win 95-84 last week against AEK, they will attempt to win consecutive BCL games for the first time.
Maccabi are making only 6.4 three-pointers per game in the BCL this season, a joint-low alongside King Szczecin; consequently, 57.3 percent of their points this season came from two-point range, the highest ratio of all teams.
Harrison Cleary had 29 points against Bonn last week, the second-best scoring game for a player with Riga in the BCL (Dairis Bertans, 31pts v Bonn GD1); only two players have managed to score 20+ points in consecutive BCL games with VEF Riga: Kristers Zoriks and Kyle Allman.
Amin Stevens (Ramat-Gan) is the only player to have had more than 15 points and more than five rebounds in each of the five Gamedays in the BCL this season; only three players have had a longer such sequence in the BCL: Jordan Morgan (6 games in 2017-18), Tyler Stone (8 games in 2019-20) and Akil Mitchell (6 games in 2022-23).
After losing to Bonn during the week, surprisingly Riga couldn't rebound over the weekend as Liepaja handed them their second loss of the season in the Estonian-Latvian League; Maccabi have found themselves in a difficult losing stretch, which extended to three straight defeats following the 83-79 home loss to Hapoel Galil Gilboa.
Filou Oostende (2-3) vs. Aliaga Petkimspor (3-2) - Group B, 20:00 CET
Filou Oostende have won five of their last six home games in the BCL Regular Season, but only one of those six games ended with a double-digit margin; the Belgian side has only won two of their eight home games played against teams from Türkiye in the competition, but one of those wins came in the most recent such game (78-76 v Karsiyaka in December 2023).
Aliaga Petkimspor have won three of their five BCL games, including the reverse fixture against Oostende (77-74) and the team that was leading at halftime always managed to win in each of their five games; Petkimspor's last three games all ended with a margin of greater than 25 points.
Petkimspor have allowed their opponents to score 51.5 percent of their attempted field goals, the worst defensive percentage of any team in the BCL this season; however, Oostende scored only 37 percent of their FGA in the reverse fixture, their lowest in a BCL game in 2024-25.
Timmy Allen is the only Oostende player to have scored 10+ points in each of the first five Gamedays in the BCL this season, including 24 points on Gameday 5, the first 20+ points game for a player with the Belgian side this season; he was also the best scorer for his team in the reverse fixture against Petkimspor (14pts).
Breein Tyree scored 33 points in the reverse fixture against his former team Oostende, the most for a player with Petkimspor in a BCL game; he has made at least one three-pointer in each of his last 13 games in the competition (2.4 per game on average in that run).
Oostende are unstoppable in the BNXT League, on top with a 12-2 record and in the middle of a seven-game winning streak; it doesn't get much better than seeing two brothers clashing, as the Russells went up against each other in Türkiye this weekend, with DeWayne's Petkimspor beating Daron's Karsiyaka by a single point.
King Szczecin (0-5) vs. Unicaja (5-0) - Group B, 20:00 CET
King Szczecin have lost each of their last six games in the BCL, including the reverse fixture against Unicaja (60-83), however, each of their two wins in the BCL came while playing at home. Their last eight games in the competition all ended with a margin greater than 10 points.
Unicaja have won their last 15 games in the BCL, the longest win sequence of any team in the BCL history, and they were trailing at halftime in only two of those games; each of Unicaja's last four games in the BCL ended with a margin of more than 15 points, for an average margin of victory of 30.3 points.
Unicaja are averaging 98.6 points per game in the BCL in 2024-25, but no team has ever managed to conclude a BCL Regular Season with an average of more than 92.0 points (La Laguna Tenerife in 2020-21); they have the best average of points per possession (1.32) while Szczecin are one of the three teams averaging fewer than one point per possession this season (0.94).
Tony Meier (Szczecin) has failed to reach double-digit in scoring in each of his last three BCL games, but has never endured a longer such run in the competition; however, he was Szczecin's top scorer in the reverse fixture against Unicaja (15pts).
Tyler Kalinoski is the only Unicaja player to have scored 10+ points in each of their two road games this season in the BCL; in fact, he has averaged 17.7 points in his last three road games after averaging only 7.9 points in his first 13 with the Spanish side.
For the first time this season, Unicaja have lost two games in a row: following Real Madrid, Gran Canaria had the best of Ibon Navarro's team too, most importantly at the Martin Carpena Arena. The weekend wasn't beneficial to Szczecin either, as they lost 79-68 at home against Czarni Slupsk.
RASTA Vechta (1-4) vs. Galatasaray (3-2) - Group D, 20:30 CET
RASTA Vechta won their last game (86-78 v Promitheas), ending a run of seven straight defeats, but they have won consecutive games only once in the BCL; they have lost their last three home games, allowing more than 80 points on each occasion.
Galatasaray have won five of their last seven games in the BCL Regular Season, including the reverse fixture against RASTA (103-91), the game where they scored the most points in the BCL; they have lost all their previous three trips to Germany in the competition however, by an average margin of 12.7 points.
RASTA are averaging 6.0 blocks per game in the BCL this season, more than any other team, but Galatasaray have suffered only 1.4 blocks per game, the fewest among all teams.
Jayden Gardner has scored 10+ points in each of his five BCL games and was RASTA's top scorer in the reverse fixture against Galatasaray (18pts); he became on Gameday 5 the first RASTA player with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds in a BCL game (20pts, 13reb v Promitheas Patras).
James Palmer Jr. (Galatasaray) has scored more than 10 points in 10 of his 11 BCL games, but he has made more than 50 percent of his field goals only once, it was in the reverse fixture against RASTA (14pts, 54% FG).
RASTA entered the BBL action with a three-game winning streak, but couldn't prolong it domestically against Hamburg, which ultimately prevailed at 79-69. The next German gem Johann Grunloh broke another record with 6 blocked shots, but that wasn't enough. In Türkiye, Galatasaray are living one of their best moments recently, as James Palmer Jr.'s 30 points pushed them to the 102-85 win over Bursaspor.
ERA Nymburk (5-0) vs. Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola (1-4) - Group D, 20:30 CET
ERA Nymburk have won their last six games in the BCL after losing seven of the previous eight, and they scored 80+ points and allowed fewer than 80 points in each of those six games. Only one of those six wins ended with a single-digit margin, it was the reverse fixture against Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola (86-78).
Promitheas have lost six of their last seven games in the BCL, including each of the last three, but have never lost four games in a row in the competition; their last two wins in the BCL came while playing on the road, however.
Nymburk are grabbing 45.8 rebounds per game in the BCL this season, more than any other team, while Promitheas are the team grabbing the fewest rebounds per game (28.4).
Jaromir Bohacik (Nymburk) has scored 10+ points in each of his last four games, but has never enjoyed a longer such run in the BCL Regular Season; however, the only game he failed to reach double-digit in scoring this season was in the reverse fixture against Promitheas (5pts).
Jordan Walker (Promitheas) has scored 20+ points in each of his last three BCL games, averaging 4.7 made three-pointers per game in that run; he has made at least one steal in each of his four BCL appearances.
Winning by 22 points to celebrate the club's icon Vojtech Hruban returning home? Nymburk chose to do so, beating BK JIP Pardubice to keep the lead in the Czech League standings; regarding Promitheas, during the weekend Jordon Varnado warmed up the engines with 21 points and 9 rebounds to beat Peristeri on the road and moved up to the 3rd place in the Greek League standings, behind only Panathinaikos and Olympiacos.
BAXI Manresa (4-1) vs. Bertram Derthona Basket (5-0) - Group G, 20:30 CET
BAXI Manresa have won their last three games in the BCL and will try to win more in succession for only the 3rd time in the competition (W5 in October-December 2021 & W4 in March-May 2022); they have scored on average 93.0 points in their last four home games, winning all of them.
Bertram Derthona Basket have won their five games in the BCL this season, including a 102-85 victory over Manresa, their biggest win in the competition; they have allowed 71 points or fewer in each of their last three games after allowing 71 points or more in each of their first 10 games in the competition.
Derthona have allowed fewer three-pointers (6.0) and fewer free throws (8.4) per game than any other team in the BCL this season. They allowed 7.6 3-pointers and 17.3 free throws per game in the BCL last season.
Derrick Alston (Manresa) has scored 25+ points in each of his previous two home games in the BCL, making at least three three-pointers on both occasions; however, he scored only four points in the reverse fixture, at Derthona, his only BCL game with fewer than 15 points, making only 18 percent of his field goals in that game (2-of-7 2PTS, 0-of-4 3PTS).
Christian Vital scored 28 points in the reverse fixture against BAXI Manresa, the most for a player with Derthona in a BCL game; he has made at least two three-pointers in each of his five BCL appearances (3.0 per game on average) and he is averaging 2.4 steals per game.
As we have noticed from their run in this year's Basketball Champions League, Derthona are a difficult team to subdue - Venice figured that out too, wasting an early 16-point lead as Christian Vital dropped 23 points for the win. Moving to the the Liga Endesa, Manresa had a rough time hosting their old friend Jerrick Harding, who had an unstoppable 36-point showdown to drag Andorra in Pavello Nou Congost.
SL Benfica (0-5) vs. NINERS Chemnitz (1-4) - Group G, 20:30 CET
SL Benfica have lost their last 10 games in the BCL, the longest ongoing losing run among the teams currently in the league; they were leading at the end of the third quarter in each of their last two games in the BCL, but ended losing by margins of more than five points (71-77 v Derthona & 80-91 v Manresa).
NINERS Chemnitz have only won one of their five BCL games, but it was the reverse fixture against Benfica (103-75), where they won all four quarters. Their last four games in the BCL ended with an average margin of 25.3 points.
Chemnitz (18.2) and Benfica (17.8) are committing more turnovers per game than any other team in the BCL this season; in fact, Benfica are allowing their opponents to make 10.0 steals per game, a joint-high this season alongside Igokea m:tel.
Tyler Stone (Benfica) has scored fewer than 10 points in each of his last two BCL games, as often as in his first 16 appearances; however, he scored 28 points in the reverse fixture against Chemnitz, a joint-high for a player with Benfica in a BCL game.
DeAndre Lansdowne has scored at least 14 points in his two road games with Chemnitz in the BCL while scoring fewer than eight in each of his three home games; in fact, he has reached double-digits in scoring in each of his last four road games in the competition, but has never enjoyed a longer such run.
Winless in the Basketball Champions League, but unbeaten in the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol: Benfica beat Galitos by 23 points (91-68), keeping the top of the standings at 8-0. Just like RASTA, Chemnitz entered Week 10 of the BCL Regular Season following a domestic loss, this time at Ludwigsburg.