MIES (Switzerland) - A blast from the past, teams dragged by scoring heroes, possible upsets on the way, and a lot more to discover in the remaining four Play-In series to cover your Wednesday night.
It's only the first occasion to take a look at these four possible three-game clashes, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited about. You don't believe it? Just stay with us.
Manisa Basket vs. NINERS Chemnitz - 18:00 CET
Manisa Basket have won four of their six games in the BCL and have scored more than 100 points in three of those games - no team has ever scored more than 100 points in more games in a single BCL season.
NINERS Chemnitz are still looking for their first road win in the BCL, having scored fewer than 70 points in each of their most recent two road fixtures; they have lost the first quarter in each of those road games.
Of Chemnitz's 75 points per game, 51.1 percent have been scored in the paint (38.3ppg), the highest ratio of any team in the BCL in the current campaign; only King Szczecin have scored fewer 3-pointers per game (6.5) than Chemnitz this season (6.7).
Martynas Echodas (Manisa) has scored more than 10 points in each of his last nine BCL games (15.2 per game on average), making more than 55 percent of his field goals in each of those games; he has won 10 of his last 12 games played at home in the BCL.
DeAndre Lansdowne has scored 14+ points in each of his last five road games in the BCL; in fact, he has averaged 14.3 points when playing away from home with Chemnitz and only 6.7 per game in his three home appearances with the German team.
Manisa fought until the last ground against Galatasaray in the Basketbol Super Ligi, taking the game to another overtime, but they ran out of fuel in a 10-point defeat; Chemnitz, instead, have concluded their 2024 just like they've started their 2025: by winning in Germany, this time 85-66 against Frankfurt. At 8-6, they are just a win behind four league leaders (Ulm, Bayern, Heidelberg, Wurzburg)
Karsiyaka vs. Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola - 18:30 CET
This is Karsiyaka's fourth consecutive season competing in the BCL Play-In: they have progressed to the next phase of the competition in 2023-24 after being eliminated in this round both in 2021-22 and 2022-23; Karsiyaka have progressed when playing Game 1 at home and have won three of their four games on their own court in the Play-Ins, scoring 86+ points in each of those four encounters.
Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola have won only two of their last eight games in the BCL, but their two wins happened while playing on the road; Promitheas' two victories this season happened in the only two games in which they have scored 80+ points.
Promitheas have seen their opponents scoring only 28.8 percent of their attempted 3-pointers, the best defensive ratio in the BCL this season; they have allowed 7.0 made 3s per game, the second lowest in the BCL in 2024-25 (Pallacanestro Reggiana, 6.5 per game).
Kenny Williams (Promitheas) has scored 10+ points in each of his last two road games in the BCL but has done it in three road games in a row only once before, in 2022-23 with AEK; he has scored 20+ points in three of his 40 BCL appearances and two of them were against Karsiyaka (20pts in October 2022 & 23pts in March 2024).
Karsiyaka lost four pillars like Errick McCollum, Jerry Boutsiele, Damien Jefferson, and James Webb III, and Daron Russell immediately dragged the green-and-red side with 40 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds in the hard-fought defeat to Fenerbahce; Promitheas beat Lavrio 92-78 on the road and kept the 5th spot in Greece.
Falco-Vulcano Szombathely vs. Maccabi Ramat-Gan - 19:00 CET
This is Falco-Vulcano Szombathely's first time in the BCL Play-Ins; they have been defeated in their last two home games but have never endured a longer losing sequence at home in the league.
Maccabi Ramat-Gan have won their last two BCL games after winning just one of their previous four, with the Israeli side scoring more than 90 points in each of those two wins; five of their six encounters have ended with single-digit margins.
Ramat-Gan have made only 10.5 turnovers per 100 possessions, the second-best turnover ratio in the BCL in 2024-25 (Rytas Vilnius 10.3); the Israeli have allowed the fewest points per game from turnovers (10.7) and the fewest fast-break points per game (5.2) in the BCL this season.
Zoltan Perl has scored 15 or more points in each of his last 10 games in the BCL and if he scores 15+ in this game he will have the longest scoring sequence of any player in league history (currently tied with DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell); Perl needs to have nine points to become the 12th player with 800+ points in the history of the competition.
Amin Stevens (Ramat-Gan) has made 10+ 2-pointers in three games in the BCL this season, no other player has done it more than once; in fact, he has scored 90 points in the paint, 22 more than the second player in this ranking, Zoltan Perl that he will face in that game (68).
We're already in January 2025 and Falco haven't lost a single game in Hungary so far, as they're now 14-0 after rolling past 102-60 against Duna Aszfalt; Ramat-Gan won four of their last five games in the Israeli League, with the latest on the road against former BCL finalist Hapoel Jerusalem.
Telekom Baskets Bonn vs. Pallacanestro Reggiana - 20:00 CET
This will be the third time that Telekom Baskets Bonn and Pallacanestro Reggiana will matchup in the BCL, with each of the two previous encounters being won by the away team of the day; Bonn have scored more than 80 points in each of their two games against Reggiana.
Bonn have won seven of their last eight home games in the BCL, allowing fewer than 80 points in all of those seven wins; Bonn's last two games at home ended with margins of four or fewer points.
Reggiana have won just two of their six road games in the BCL, but one of those happened exactly at Bonn home court, back in October 2022; overall, they have lost their two most recent BCL games but have never had a longer losing sequence in the competition.
Thomas Kennedy (Bonn) has grabbed 10+ rebounds in four of his six BCL games this season, including in each of the most recent two, after never doing it in any of his first 12 appearances. He is the only player to average 10+ rebounds per game in the BCL 2024-25 (10.3).
Cassius Winston (Reggiana) has scored 20+ points in each of his last three BCL games, after doing it in only two of his first 20 appearances; he has dished out 5+ assists in each of his six BCL games this term.
Bonn started 2025 with the 94-74 road win over Braunschweig in a good mood, as they have now captured three of their latest four games in the BBL; after winning six games in a row in Italy, Reggiana now lost their second straight, but against a powerhouse like Virtus Bologna Kenneth Faried was amazing with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks