This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- Maodo Lo and Jonas Mattisseck will not play Thursday for ALBA, but Christ Koumadje is set to make his team debut.
- Marko Guduric, Melih Mahmutoglu and Alex Perez will all suit up for Fenerbahce on Thursday.
- Zalgiris' Joffrey Lauvergne will be in uniform for Thursday's game.
THE SLATE
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at 
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Status Check: None
Best Bets for Success: Round 30 opens with the game that is expected to be lowest-scoring on Thursday's slate. Last three meetings between Baskonia and Zenit produced an average of just 138.3 points and host team is second from the bottom in terms of average points per game. Regardless of that, we will see two of the best distributors in the league. Pierria Henry is not most prolific scorer, but he still averages 24 DFS points and eight assists in last four games. Last week he was close to double-double again, missing by only one point. Kevin Pangos is a regular in this section and his scoring record is more impressive, as he reached double digits in nine of last 10 games while also tallying seven assists in each of last three. He averages 30.9 DFS points over last five EuroLeague showings and his value is reflected in his price on DraftKings. At $10,100, he is the most expensive play in this matchup. Rokas Giedraitis is producing regularly, only once recording fewer than 20 DFS points while scoring in double digits in each of last six games. He was Baskonia's top scorer last time these teams met.
DFS Darlings: Arturas Gudaitis was struggling in last games but he is more than capable to do better and could bounce back on Thursday. His price dropped down to $6,600, lowest since beginning of January. Tonye Jekiri just narrowly missed double-double in last game, recording 15 points and nine rebounds and seems to have an upper hand on Youssoupha Fall at the moment. Jekiri averaged 23.7 minutes in last three games against just 11 in Fall's column.
Zalgiris Kaunas at 
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Status Check: Joffrey Lauvergne (ZAL), Arturas Milaknis (ZAL), Patricio Garino (ZAL), Marko Guduric (ULK), Edgaras Ulanovas (ULK), Melih Mahmutoglu (ULK), Alex Perez (ULK)
Best Bets for Success: Even if this game doesn't have the highest over/under on the slate, it does have the potential to be the highest-scoring. Thomas Walkup was Zalgiris' top scorer in last week's loss to red-hot Efes and was only two assists short of a double-double. Walkup scored over 20 DFS points on eight occasions this year. Fenerbahce will want to forget surprising loss to Valencia in last Round and fight for favorable playoff seeding. The only players who didn't disappoint in defeat were Nando de Colo and Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce's most consistent producers. The Frenchman is averaging 29.4 DFS points in last five games and is second, behind Zalgiris' Marius Grigonis, in free throws conversion at 95.2 percent. Vesely only once failed to score in double figures since calendar flipped to 2021 and averages just over 29 minutes per game. Dyshawn Pierre will most likely replace the injured Ulanovas in the starting lineup. Last time that occurred, Pierre spent 32 minutes on the court and produced a season-high 29 DFS points. He is priced at a very-reasonable $7,600 on the DraftKings board.
DFS Darlings: If Lauvergne sits, Paulius Jankunas and Martinas Geben will share the center duties. Jankunas, Zalgiris' captain, averages 15.3 DFS points in last five, and Geben's best outing this season came last time these teams squared off. Kenan Sipahi appeared in EuroLeague game in last round, first time since November. If Fenerbahce's backcourt will be as decimated as it was against Valencia, he will likely get another chance but it would be wise to monitor injury reports here. Sipahi is available on DraftKings for a mere $3,600.
Olympiacos Piraeus at 
ALBA Berlin
Status Check: Kostas Papanikolaou (OLY), Hassan Martin (OLY), Vassilis Charalampopoulos (OLY), Maodo Lo (BER), Christ Koumadje (BER)
Best Bets for Success: Shaq McKissic was Olympiacos' top scorer, with 14 points, when these teams met last time. ALBA ranks second in best defenses against guards in the league but German champions will likely be without Lo and Jayson Granger just recovered from hand injury so McKissic will have a good chance to impress again against weakened backcourt. He averages 28.5 DFS points over last four outings. Sasha Vezenkov is facing a favorable matchup in this game as ALBA, alongside Khimki, is conceding most points against frontcourt players. Bulgarian forward averages 27.9 DFS points over last five games. Peyton Siva will likely play a lead role in ALBA's possibly shorthanded backcourt. Last Round's co-MVP is improving his stats from game to game and scored his season high 21 points in the game against ASVEL last week. Simone Fontecchio is on the best run of form this season, scoring in double figures in five out of his last six outings and averaging 29.4 DFS points in last three. The Italian forward is available at $9,200 on DraftKings.
DFS Darlings: ALBA is second worst in the league in defending against centers, so both, Octavius Ellis and Kosta Koufos will have a good chance to improve their stats. You can add them to your DraftKings fantasy team at $6,100 and $5,100, respectively. Louis Olinde has recovered from hand injury and, after playing just five minutes in last game, will possibly be ready for more workload. DraftKings has him priced at just $3,800.
Status Check: Darrun Hilliard (CSK), Janis Strelnieks (CSK), Andrei Lopatin (CSK), Nikola Milutinov (CSK), Sergio Llull (MAD), Rudy Fernandez (MAD), Anthony Randolph (MAD)
Best Bets for Success: Thursday slate ends with clash between two most successful teams in EuroLeague history. With rather small chance of blowout both teams will likely rely on their stars. Despite a loss to Milano in last round, there are two CSKA players who stood out. Mike James, after three subpar performances, for his standard, bounced back in style by scoring 41.3 DFS points in 33 minutes, his longest outing in last four games. League's top scorer is on course to reach the numbers from couple months ago, when he was indisputable leader of his team. Tornike Shengelia has recorded double-double against Milan, equaling his season best 20 points and setting new benchmark of 10 rebounds. In Round 29, Walter Tavares has achieved second double-double in three games and is definitely one to go in Real Madrid ranks. He averages 34.3 DFS points, in last three outings, including 10.3 rebounds per game. Tavares is second best in EuroLeague in both, rebounds and blocks. Gabriel Deck has extended his run of scoring in double digits to four games. He now averages 24.5 DFS points in last four and is almost sure to continue in small forward spot of Real's starting lineup.
DFS Darlings: Johannes Voigtmann continues to deliver steady stream of fantasy points from CSKA's bench. Only once in last six performances German provided less than 17.3 DFS points and on Monday he scored his career high 22 points in domestic league. Jeffery Taylor has started last two EuroLeague games for Real and is likely to see extended minutes on Thursday night. Swedish international averages 15.1 DFS points in last two games.
