This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- Panathinaikos' Nemanja Nedovic will be available for Thursday's contest, but Jehyve Floyd will remain sidelined.
- Baskonia's Jayson Granger will be available for Round 16.
- Fenerbahce's Marial Shayok will be available for Thursday's game, but Ahmet Duverioglu will not be.
- Barcelona's Nigel Hayes-Davis tested positive for COVID-19 and will not play Thursday.
STATS AND INFO.
- Betting Odds
- Starting Lineups
- Injury Report
- Team Stats
- Opponent Averages
- Team Trends
- Twitter - @RotoWireEuro
THE SLATE
Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at 
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Status Check: Jayson Granger (BKN), Alec Peters (BKN), Marial Shayok (FBB), Danilo Barthel (FBB)
Best Bets for Success: Round 16 will get underway with two teams that are separated by one game in the standings but are going in different directions, as the visitors are amid a 2-8 stretch while the home team has ripped off three straight wins. Fenerbahce has gone back to the tried-and-true approach of leaning on the duo of Jan Vesely and Nando de Colo, and both players are in top form, with Vesely averaging 16.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals over the last 10 Rounds and de Colo putting up marks of 17.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.4 threes over his last five appearances. Their hot steaks could continue Thursday, as Baskonia has been below average against both guards and frontcourt players. The Spanish squad has been getting steady production from a number of players, with the most productive being Steven Enoch. However, he will have a tough task Thursday, as Fenerbahce has contained opposing centers better than anyone. Should you pass on Enoch, Simone Fontecchio looks like the next-best option for Round 16. A couple of Baskonia's other top producers are not 100 percent, and Fenerbahce ranks bottom-3 against forwards in five of the six counting stats and field goal attempts.
DFS Darlings: With some inviting matchups on both sides and the over/under on this game not a hindrance, there will be a number of value plays to consider. For the Turkish team', Dyshawn Pierre will carry plenty of appeal, as Baskonia is also struggling with players at the forward spots, ranking bottom-5 in five counting stats and shots from the field. Achille Polonara will also be interesting, as he will take on his former team and checks in at a meager $6,900. If Granger is out, Wade Baldwin would take on some extra duties, and he could provide some nice bang for your buck at $8,700. While Rokas Giedraitis may not be 100 percent, he could be worth a gamble at a season-low $7,900, and if you believe his minutes will remain limited, Tadas Sedekerskis will be in play at just $6,900.
FC Barcelona at 
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
Status Check: Nick Calathes (BAR), Cory Higgins (BAR), Alex Abrines (BAR), Sergi Martinez (BAR), Nemanja Nedovic (PAO), Jehyve Floyd (PAO)
Best Bets for Success: The next game up features teams at nearly opposite ends of the standings, as Barcelona enters in first place while Panathinaikos trails all but one other squad. Nikola Mirotic remains one of -- if not the -- safest options on the board, but playing time could be a concern if the score gets out of hand. Mirotic has actually been more productive in blowouts than in competitive games, but fewer minutes on the court naturally gives him fewer opportunities to produce. Panathinaikos will be playing at home and are expected to get Nedovic back, so they could keep the game closer than anticipated. Big nights from their top producers, Daryl Macon and Georgios Papagiannis would also go a long way, but both will have their work cut out of them, as Barcelona is limiting guards to the fewest assists and threes and also the lowest field goal percentage, and are also limiting centers to the second-lowest success rate from the field.
DFS Darlings: There don't appear to be many appealing bargain-bin options in this one, but Brandon Davies and Ioannis Papapetrou are both inviting on DraftKings, as both have dropped below the $8,000 mark for the first time this season. Barcelona has a couple intriguing options in the backcourt in Rokas Jokubaitis and Dante Exum, as neither is particularly pricey and will square off against a Panathinaikos team that ranks bottom-5 against guards in five counting stats as well as attempts allowed from the field. Nigel Hayes-Davis also earns a mention, as he is coming off his best game of the season and could rejoin the starting lineup with Martinez sidelined.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul at 
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Status Check: Dogus Balbay (EFS)
Best Bets for Success: This contest should not lack for excitement, as its over/under is notably higher than that of the other three games on the slate. A lot of points could mean a lot of production for Efes' dynamic backcourt duo of Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin, who both dropped some big numbers earlier this week. Maccabi is allowing opposing guards to put more points on the board than any other team, so a repeat performance could be in order for both the reigning MVP and the presumptive MVP of the shortened 2019-20 campaign. If Maccabi hopes to keep pace with Efes they will need a big night from Scottie Wilbekin, and he should be up to the task, having scored at least 14 points five times over the last six Rounds. He will look to take advantage of an Efes defense allowing guards to make over six threes a game and hit over 40 percent of their attempts from long range.
DFS Darlings: The Turkish team is allowing opposing frontcourt players to get really involved, which bodes well for Ante Zizic and James Nunnally. The former has put up at least 21.8 DraftKings points seven times in his 11 appearances this season, and the latter -- despite being a bit pricey for this section -- is returning some of the most value on the board. Derrick Williams could also garner a look at $7,500. Efes' frontcourt players don't have a particularly appealing matchup and are a little expensive, but you could consider a couple more of their guards in Rodrigue Beaubois and Krunoslav Simon, who are both notably cheaper on DraftKings than they were in Round 15.
Real Madrid at 
AX Armani Exchange Milan
Status Check: Guerschon Yabusele (RMB), Thomas Heurtel (RMB), Trey Thompkins (RMB), Alberto Abalde (RMB), Carlos Alocen (RMB), Konstantinos Mitoglou (AXM), Riccardo Moraschini (AXM)
Best Bets for Success: The last game of the day looks like the most intriguing, but it could also be the lowest-scoring, as it features teams giving up the second- and third-fewest points in the league. The top option in this game will be Edy Tavares, who is returning the most average value on the DraftKings board at $9,800 and has now put up at least 24.0 points on that website in six straight appearances despite playing more than 26 minutes in just one of them. The safest play for the Italian team remains Shavon Shields, who has put up at least 20.5 DraftKings points in all but three games this season. He will face a tough test Thursday, though, as Madrid ranks top-3 against forwards in all of points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and field-goal attempts allowed on a per-game basis.
DFS Darlings: With few points expected to be scored and both teams getting pretty steady production up and down their rosters, there isn't a lot to like in the lower price ranges. If Yabusele remains out, though, Anthony Randolph looks pretty appealing at $8,100. Randolph made his first EuroLeague appearance in nearly a year earlier this week, but he stepped right into a key role in the rotation. With Heurtel and Alocen both out, Nigel Williams-Goss looks like a pretty good option at $7,100, even against a Milan team that ranks top-3 against opposing guards in four counting stats. On the Italian team's side, Sergio Rodriguez and Malcolm Delaney -- at $8,400 and $8,000, respectively -- look appealing against a Madrid team short on guards and in a game where each team's top players could spend more time on the court than they usually do.
