Igokea vs. Bahcesehir Prediction, Tips & Odds – Dec. 21, 2022 20:00 CET
In a head-to-head clash, Igokea and Bahcesehir will decide on the second place, which brings home court advantage in the FIBA Champions League play-in.
Our betting experts found the best odds for this game at the popular UK betting site Unibet. You will get an attractive Unibet Welcome offer if you register a new account. More information about Unibet sign-up offer you can find here.
Igokea Team News
In the last two rounds of the FIBA Champions League, Igokea won at road against Bilbao and Nymburk. However, in order to keep second place, which brings home court advantage in play-in, it’s necessary for them to beat Bahcesehir. It won’t be an easy task since they have many problems with injuries.
Against Cibona on Saturday, head coach Dragan Bajic used only nine players. The replacement for Deshawn Stephens was not signed, while Kendrick Ray, Darko Talic and Mario Nakic weren’t play in Zagreb due to injuries. If Ray can’t play against Bahcesehir, it will be extremely difficult for Igokea to win. The problems are most visible in the paint, where apart from Nikola Tanaskovic and Stefan Djordjevic, this team doesn’t have a single quality individual.
To win against Bahcesehir, Igokea best players will have to play above their realistic capabilities. First of all, it will be necessary for the intensity in defense to be at its maximum and then also to not make stupid mistakes in offense.
Bahcesehir Team News
Bahcesehir started this season very ambitiously. They brought in several former Euroleague players, but the results are not in line with expectations. They are 2-3 in the FIBA Champions League, while in the Turkish Super League they have only four wins after 11 rounds.
The fact is that they had a lot of injured players in the first few months and only now things are starting to come together. Jaka Blazic played his first game of the season 10 days ago, just like Langston Hall. Instead of Vladimir Brodziansky, who left for Partizan, Bahcesehir signed James Gist. The roster includes several other experienced players such as Jamar Smith, Oguz Savas and Jerry Boutsiele.
At this moment, Bahcesehir is much better than Igokea, but they are far from their best form. Seven days ago, they were defeated at home by Bilbao 92:60, which says a lot. Nevertheless, they travel to Laktasi with the belief that they can achieve win and second place in this group.
H2H
Earlier in the season, Bahcesehir beat Igokea 70:67 in Istanbul. It was the only game that these two teams played against each other.
Injuries
Darko Talic and Mario Nakic are injured and won’t play for Igokea, while Kendrick Ray is questionable. All players are available to Bahcesehir.
Igokea vs. Bahcesehir Prediction
In this situation, Igokea is definitely not a favorite against Bahcesehir. Apart from Bryant Crawford and Kendrick Ray, rest of the team is not at the level needed to overcome this kind of opponent. Even if the home team wins, it’s not realistic to be with more than one possession. That is why we predict that Bahcesehir will cover four-point handicap in Laktasi.
Kick-off time: Wednesday, 21.12.2022. 20:00 CET
Prediction: Bahceseheir +4
Odds: 1.84
Sportsbook: Unibet
