Anadolu Efes

Istanbul's Anadolu Efes (17-10) has recovered from a sluggish start to the season and seems to have returned to its usual rhythm. The team has currently won 6 consecutive games in the EuroLeague. Anadolu Efes has defeated strong teams such as Barcelona (winning 88-86 away) and CSKA (winning 100-70 at home). The result of the recent match against CSKA is truly alarming, as it is one of CSKA's biggest losses in the EuroLeague, and although the team is currently facing problems, such a result once again shows the good form the Istanbul team has been demonstrating in recent weeks.

Although last season's EuroLeague MVP Sh. Larkin is not showing as impressive and consistent play as last year, former Žalgiris player V. Mičičius compensates for Larkin's poorer performances with his impressive play. Mičičius shows improving play with each season, and this year he is displaying very versatile play – both creating plays and making assists, as well as fighting for rebounds and scoring points at crucial moments.

It is worth mentioning that local center S. Sanli is getting more and more minutes with each game, who not only can score points in the paint but, for example, made all 3 three-pointers in the game against CSKA. Since Anadolu Efes has retained the core of last year's team and local players are integrating better into the rotation, the team is truly very dangerous and will undoubtedly be among the favorites to win the tournament again this year.

Žalgiris

Kaunas Žalgiris (15-13) in the last round in a very low-scoring match (64-69) at home lost to Milan's AX Armani team. Although Žalgiris showed character in this match and did not give up early, they failed to turn the match result in their favor throughout the game – AX Armani, having taken the lead from the first minute, maintained the advantage until the last moment.

Žalgiris clearly fell short of their opponents in individual skill, and also missed good opportunities to score points, which undoubtedly could have changed the course of the match. At a crucial moment, when AX Armani's lead was just 4 points, Jankūnas missed an open shot under the basket, and Walkup's erroneous pass directly into the opponent's hands instead of taking a shot shows that if Žalgiris had executed the small details, they would have had a chance to win that match. Since the match against Anadolu Efes will take place in Istanbul and the team is certainly not inferior to AX Armani in individual skill, such mistakes could have an even greater impact on the final match result.

Žalgiris has lost the last 3 EuroLeague away games by an average margin of 16.3 points, so it can be said that away games are not nearly as successful for the team as playing at home. Žalgiris cannot be written off, but against Anadolu Efes showing the kind of play we saw against Armani, it will be very difficult to win, so we can only hope that the team has made adjustments in their play and will be able to pose a more serious challenge.

Prediction

Anadolu Efes currently has a 6-game winning streak at home, and the smallest point margin in these games was a win against Berlin's Alba (84-76). Meanwhile, Kaunas Žalgiris has been losing the last few away games by an average margin of more than 16 points, so the predictions for this match are indeed bleak. One can optimistically hope that Žalgiris will show solid play and maintain intrigue, but realistically, there is a very high chance that Anadolu Efes will take care of business and win by a double-digit point margin.