This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- Milan's Sergio Rodriguez will be sidelined Thursday.
- Johnny O'Bryant will return to action for Red Star, but Langston Hall will not.
- Panathinaikos' Shelvin Mack will be back in action Thursday.
- Fenerbahce's Danilo Barthel was ruled out for Thursday's game, but he responded positively to treatment before the game and will be available for Round 12. Melih Mahmutoglu and Johnny Hamilton, who did not play in Round 11, will suit up as well.
- Olympiacos' Antonis Koniaris, who started in Round 11, will not suit up Thursday.
THE SLATE
Olympiacos Piraeus at 
CSKA Moscow
Key Injuries: Aaron Harrison (OLY), Janis Strelnieks (CSK)
Best Bets for Success: CSKA's Mike James has been one of the hottest players in the league, scoring at least 25 points in three straight Rounds. He hit the 20-point mark in both matchups with Olympiacos last season, so he will have a chance to toss up a big number in the scoring column for the fourth game in a row. His teammate, Nikola Milutinov, will face his former club for the first time Thursday, and Olympiacos does not have much size to combat him. Milutinov picked up his first double-double of the season two Rounds ago, and he will have a good shot at No. 2 in Round 12. The Greek team has been tough to figure out all season, and that task will be even more difficult Thursday, as a number of players who sat out in Round 11 will be returning to action. You should at least be able to count on Shaq McKissic scoring in double figures, as he did so seven times over the last eight Rounds.
DFS Darlings: Olympiacos is allowing the fewest points and rebounds to opposing forwards, which limits CSKA's options. Darrun Hilliard deserves consideration, though, having averaged 14.7 ppg since Round 6 and having reached double figures in both matchups with Olympiacos during the previous campaign. Besides McKissic, you can think about Livio Jean-Charles and Sasha Vezenkov for the Greek team. Jean-Charles started in his last two appearances and averaged just under 20 points on DraftKings, and Vezenkov has been one of the more efficient players in the league when given the opportunity.
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul at 
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Key Injuries: Nando de Colo (ULK), Alex Perez (ULK)
Best Bets for Success: de Colo will remain sidelined for this one, so Lorenzo Brown will remain the primary playmaker for the Turkish team. He's a risky play Thursday, though, as no team is allowing fewer points and assists to opposing guards than Zenit. As such, consider Jan Vesely Fenerbahce's best option in Thursday's contests. On the Russian side, Kevin Pangos has been the team's steadiest contributor. His scoring totals have slipped since early in the season, but he is still leading Zenit in scoring and has been among the best in the league in the assist department. He is a double-double threat any time out, and even more so Thursday, as only one team is allowing opposing guards to put up more assists on a per-game basis than Fenerbahce.
DFS Darlings: Zenit has gotten big contributions from a number of players of late, with eight members of their squad hitting the 20-point mark on DraftKings since the start of November. In terms of narrowing down that list for Thursday's contests, Fenerbahce has been more vulnerable against frontcourt players than guards, so it's best to focus on Zenit's forwards and centers. One of them, Arturas Gudaitis, was quiet his last time out, but he too will be a double-double threat Thursday with Fenerbahce giving up by far the most rebounds to opposing centers. It's probably best to avoid any of Fenerbahce's guards given Zenit's success at slowing them down. You can consider forwards Dyshawn Pierre and Danilo Barthel, though, with both players getting the job done the last couple Rounds.
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade at 
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Key Injuries: Johnny O'Bryant (RED), Langston Hall (RED), Yovel Zoosman (TEL)
Best Bets for Success: This game -- the first on the FanDuel slate Thursday -- features two of the top scorers in the league in Maccabi's Scottie Wilbekin and Red Star's Jordan Loyd. Wilbekin is one of the safest plays on the board, having reached double figures in every game since Round 2. He has been particularly productive of late, putting up averages of 20.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 3.7 three-pointers over the last three Rounds. Loyd has struggled some of late, but this seems like a spot for him to get back on track, as Maccabi has allowed some big numbers to opposing guards in recent weeks. Loyd's price has at least dropped at a bit, which will make it easier for him to return significant value in Thursday's contests.
DFS Darlings: O'Bryant will be worth a look if he plays, as he's been one of Red Star's top contributors since joining the club and is quite a bit cheaper than he was before missing last week's game. His teammate, Corey Walden remains one of the better value plays on both FanDuel and DraftKings, and he's a good bet to score in double figures, having done so eight times over the last nine Rounds. Maccabi doesn't have much for value plays, but Tyler Dorsey is the cheapest he has been all season, and he has plenty of upside, putting up 24 points or more on DraftKings in four of his 11 appearances.
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens at 
AX Armani Exchange Milan
Key Injuries: None
Best Bets for Success: It took no time at all for Kevin Punter to become Milan's top scorer, and he will be in position to lead his team in scoring for the fourth straight Round facing a Panathinaikos team that is giving up plenty of points and three-pointers to opposing guards. Georgios Papagiannis has really come on for the Greek team, and although Milan is not allowing opposing centers to do much scoring, they are ceding plenty of rebounds, so the big man will still have a shot at a double-double.
DFS Darlings: This represents a good opportunity to buy low on Nemanja Nedovic and Shelvin Mack, who are coming off down games but are first and third, respectively, in points per game for Panathinaikos. Only Efes is allowing guards to score more points than Milan, and both players will be facing their former club for the first time. Nine Milan players put up double-digit points on DraftKings in Tuesday's makeup game with ALBA, which clouds things quite a bit for the Italian team. Based on value at their current prices, your best bets are Shavon Shields on FanDuel and Malcolm Delaney on DraftKings.
ALBA Berlin at 
Valencia Basket
Key Injuries: Ben Lammers (BER), Marcus Eriksson (BER), Simone Fontecchio (BER), Louis Labeyrie (PAM), Vanja Marinkovic (PAM), Joan Sastre (PAM)
Best Bets for Success: The last game on Thursday's schedule has by far the biggest over/under on the slate, and with both teams short-handed there is all kinds of fantasy potential in this one. ALBA handled Milan's frontcourt players pretty well Tuesday, but they're still among the worst in the league again players at those positions, which sets up nicely for Bojan Dubljevic and Derrick Williams. The latter has scored more consistently than the former of late, but Dubljevic has to throw up a big number in the scoring column sometime soon, and this will be a prime opportunity for him to do so. Klemen Prepelic will also be in play for Valencia, but his price makes him less appealing than he was in recent weeks. ALBA will be pretty short-handed in this one, so the team figures to lean on Luke Sikma. He has looked more like himself of late, and he has a quality matchup Thursday against a Valencia team allowing opposing forwards to rack up far more points and rebounds than anyone else.
DFS Darlings: Knowing Valencia's troubles with forwards, Niels Giffey and Louis Olinde should garner plenty of interest Thursday. Giffey is a little pricier than you'd like, but he's also ALBA's leading scorer. Olinde is far more affordable, costing you just $5,800 on DraftKings and the minimum $5 on FanDuel. Peyton Siva is worth considering on FanDuel, as he is returning the most value of anyone with a double-digit price tag. Valencia didn't get much from anyone but its top three players over the last few Rounds, but ALBA is allowing opposing guards to average a nearly an assist more than anyone else, so Sam Van Rossom could keep the momentum going after a strong showing in Round 11.
