MIES (Switzerland) - Unicaja and La Laguna Tenerife have already qualified for the Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals, and Tuesday's closing action in the Round of 16 will reserve two more qualifications.
One between Rytas Vilnius and Galatasaray in Group J, one between Pallacanestro Reggiana, Aliaga Petkimspor, and BAXI Manresa in Group K: who's joining the best eight teams of the competition?
The answer's still unclear, but you can start dissecting the schedule with our usual 24 must-know facts.
Rytas Vilnius (2-3) vs. Unicaja (4-1) - Group J, 18:30 CET
Rytas have won their last five home games in the BCL, their longest winning run at home in the competition, with each of those five games ending with a 10+ points margin. Rytas have scored more than 85 points in each of their last six home games in the competition.
Unicaja have won 20 of their last 21 games in the BCL, including the reverse fixture against Rytas, the last time they won a game by a double-digit margin (92-74, Game 2); they have scored 90+ points in nine games this season, only San Pablo Burgos in 2019-20 and ERA Nymburk in 2020-21 have done it in more games during a single season (both 10 games).
Unicaja have had the highest offensive rating of any team in the BCL this season, scoring 128.1 points per 100 possessions; they also boast the highest assist ratio in 2024-25, averaging 21.1 assists per 100 possessions.
Gytis Radzevicius (Rytas) has scored 15+ points in four of his five home games in the BCL 2024-25, including in each of the most recent three, after reaching that tally in only one of his 21 home games across his previous four seasons in the competition; he is also averaging 6.4 rebounds per game at home this season.
Kameron Taylor (Unicaja) has averaged 23.5 points in his last two road games in the BCL, including a career-high 33 points last week against Manisa, after averaging 7.9 points per game in his previous eight road appearances. He has made 81 percent of his 26 two-pointers in his last seven road games and grabbed 5+ rebounds in each of his last four games away from home.
Forced to win to extend their hopes for the BCL Quarter-Finals, Rytas are coming off strongly after their 102-69 home win in Lithuania against BC Mazeikiai with six players finishing in double-digits. Unicaja had a bittersweet 107-105 home defeat in thrilling fashion against Real Madrid, recording the all-time ACB record for most three-pointers in a single game with 23.
Galatasaray (3-2) vs. Manisa Basket Divissa (1-4) - Group J, 18:30 CET
Galatasaray have won their last five home games in the BCL, their best run in the competition, but the last three ended with a single-digit margin after seeing the first two wins in this run ending with a 17+ points margin. Both teams have scored more than 80 points in each of Galatasaray’s last four games.
Manisa Basket Divissa have lost four of their five games in this Round of 16, including the reverse fixture against Galatasaray (85-96), allowing 90+ points in each of those four defeats. They have in fact allowed 90+ points in five of their six road games in the BCL 2024-25.
Galatasaray have allowed their opponents to score only 43 percent of their attempted field goals, the best defensive ratio in the BCL in 2024-25; Manisa, on the other hand, have the worst defensive ratio from behind the three-point line, allowing 38.5 percent of the shots.
James Palmer Jr (Galatasaray) has averaged 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in his last four games in the BCL, a run that includes a performance of 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists against Manisa, the only 20-10-5 game for a player with Galatasaray in the competition.
Jo Lual-Acuil has scored 20+ points in each of his last three games in the BCL after failing to score more than 11 points in each of his first two games with Manisa in the competition; he has averaged 9.5 rebounds in his last four BCL games, grabbing 10+ rebounds in two of those games.
Heading to another all-Turkish matchup this upcoming week, both Galatasaray and Manisa are coming off two domestic defeats, respectively to Mersin (89-73) and Turk Telekom (89-87) despite significant performances from Ebuka Izundu (23 poinst and 9 rebounds) and Hugo Besson (21 points).
Pallacanestro Reggiana (2-3) vs. Aliaga Petkimspor (1-4) - Group K, 20:00 CET
Reggiana have lost their last two BCL games, but have never lost three games in a row in the competition; they have scored 80+ points in only one of their nine home games in the competition (85-70 vs. Manresa in this Round of 16) while they have scored 80+ points in five of their 10 road games.
Petkimspor have lost four of their six road games in the BCL, including each of the last three, with three of their last four road games having seen a win of the team trailing at halftime; they have scored more than 80 points in five of their six road games in the competition.
Petkimspor have allowed their opponents to score 49.5 percent of their FGA, the highest of any team in the BCL in 2024-25; Reggiana have scored 46.7 percent of their attempted field goals in the Round of 16 after scoring only 43.1 percent in the two previous phases.
Kwan Cheatham Jr (Reggiana) has scored 13+ points in each of his last four BCL games, after scoring 10+ points in only one of his first nine appearances; he had 20 points and 7 rebounds in the reverse fixture against Petkimspor, both his best tallies in a BCL game.
Damyean Dotson (Petkimspor) has scored 15+ points in each of his last two games in the BCL, as often as in his first eight appearances; he has made 5+ three-pointers in three BCL games this season, only David Kramer has done that in more games (4).
Just like Galatasaray and Manisa, Petkimspor will approach their last week in the BCL Round of 16 following a domestic 95-88 defeat to Tofas Bursa in Wesley Van Beck's 26-point losing effort. Reggiana lost too in Italy, surrendering 92-87 at home to former BCL participant Venezia despite Cassius Winston erupting for 30 points.
La Laguna Tenerife (5-0) vs. BAXI Manresa (2-3) - Group K, 20:00 CET
La Laguna Tenerife have won their 11 games in the BCL this season and need one more win to equal their best run in the competition (W12 in January-October 2022). They have won their last 27 home games in the BCL and all their last 17 home games played in the Round of 16.
Manresa have lost seven of their last nine road games in the BCL, including the two played in this Round of 16, allowing 80+ points in eight of those nine games. This will be their sixth BCL meeting with Tenerife, the team they have faced the most in the competition (W1 L4).
Tenerife (11.5) and Manresa (10.2) are two of the six teams to have scored 10+ shots per game from three-point range in the BCL in 2024-25, with Tenerife scoring the most per game.
Konstantin Kostadinov (Tenerife) scored 22 points in his last BCL game, against Petkimspor, after never scoring more than 13 points in any of his games previously; he made 10 two-pointers in that game last week, as many as in his first six appearances combined.
Derrick Alston Jr (Manresa) has scored 15+ points in nine BCL games this season, only Zoltan Perl and Jhivvan Jackson (10 games each) have done that more often; Alston has scored at least five free-throws in each of his last four BCL games.
Speaking about Manresa's dominant forward, despite his 22-point performance and Mario Saint-Supery adding 17 points and 5 assists, Diego Ocampo's team had to surrender 90-84 on the road to Baskonia. Tenerife, instead, beat Andorra 96-84 on Sunday in front of their own fans: both Giorgi Shermadini (22 points and 10 rebounds) and Marcelinho Huertas (16 points and 11 assists) had double-doubles.