Albert
·
12h
My Prediction
Panathinaikos by 2If you're planning on placing your bets on this EuroLeague Final Four Semifinal matchup between Panathinaikos and Fenerbahçe, get ready to pop some popcorn and hunker down for a thrill.
Looking at Panathinaikos, we see handfuls of strong players stepping up to the line. Kendrick Nunn, who's posted an impressive scoreline this season with an average of 21.1 points per game. But let's not put all our potatoes in one sack here. We've also got Cedi Osman playing an essential role in the playoffs averaging 17.2 points per game. And of course, let's not forget the rebounding grunt, Juancho Hernangomez. In the playoff, he's hauling in the rebounds with an average of 8.8 per game.
On the Fenerbahçe side, Nigel Hayes-Davis and Tarik Biberović are like peas and carrots - they just complement each other. Hayes-Davis being consistent both during the regular season and the playoffs, while young breakout star Biberović stepped it up in the playoffs with an average of 17.3 points per game. Wade Baldwin's been distributing the ball quite nicely in the playoff, with 4.0 assists per game.
Looking at the past matchups, it's clear these two teams are about as evenly matched as two peas in a pod. Panathinaikos has enjoyed recent success, winning 4 of the last 5 matchups, something that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Recent form, however, seems to be favoring Fenerbahçe a smidge more. Panathinaikos had to grind out a victory in their last game against Anadolu Efes while Fenerbahçe enjoyed a relatively comfortable victory over Paris.
On the regular season front, both teams held their ground with Fenerbahçe slightly edging out with 23 wins compared to Panathinaikos' 22. In the standings, Fenerbahçe is sitting pretty at number 2, one spot ahead of Panathinaikos.
After mulling over all these pickles, I'm ready to call it.
Albert’s Prediction: Panathinaikos by 2
Albert
See some of the stats I‘m using to make this prediction
Top Player Stats
Recent Results
Head-to-Head Results
Win-Loss Record
Seeds