Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Real Madrid start the second half of the regular season with at least a victory more that all the other Turkish Airlines EuroLeague clubs as the race for the playoffs begins in earnest. Here's a review of the key statistics in the competitive Turkish Airlines EuroLeague landscape.

High-Gravity Matchups

The marquee matchup of Round 17 between Panathinaikos OPAP Athens and CSKA Moscow in Kaliningrad lived up to its billing. Konstantinos Mitoglou scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed a club-record 16 rebounds while Nick Calathes created, assisted, or scored 61 points in an overtime shootout. Defensively, Panathinaikos allowed CSKA to generate 55 points in the pick-and-roll – among the highest single-game marks in recent history – but weathered that storm thanks to the 11 points Mitoglou and Calathes contributed in overtime. In a game with no shortage of impressive performances, it was timely shot-making down the stretch that proved to be the difference.

Pick-and-Roll Defense

At this point in EuroLeague history, defensive solutions to the pick-and-roll are hard to come by, so outbursts like the one CSKA recorded in Round 17 should come as no surprise. Ballhandlers have used 42% of all half-court possessions this season either directly as pick-and-rolls or spun off such situations. Those possessions have resulted in 0.97 points per possession, just ahead of the 0.96 average for all half-court possessions. The two most efficient pick-and-roll offenses double as the EuroLeague two most efficient overall offenses, making ball screens the single most significant factor in offensive performance for most teams.

Whether based on the versatility of their defenders, a desire to push opposing ballhandlers to a specific area of the floor, or a scouting-report-driven approach to a specific offensive player, EuroLeague teams defend the pick-and-roll in a variety of ways. Making all manner of adjustments to how they guard the ball, what the player defending the screener should do, and how the weak-side defenders should subsequently react, coaches have no shortage of dials to turn. Even with all those tools at their disposal, not all can go right if the offensive opponent has creative guards, active finishers, and hot shooters in the two-man game.

Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul's performance against Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 17 exemplified why it is leading the league in points-against pick-and-roll defense. Fenerbahce is currently on pace to allow the fourth-fewest pick-and-roll points since the EuroLeague moved to its current format. Considering pick-and-roll scoring has risen annually, that is no small feat. In beating Olympiacos, Fenerbahce gave up 35 such points as Vassilis Spanoulis created 25 himself during a trademark performance that saw him become the EuroLeague's all-time leading scorer.

Fenerbahce adjusts on the fly, guarding ball-screens in a variety of ways. However, success in limiting its opponents' pick-and-roll production can be traced to how Fenerbahce defenders attack the ballhandlers. When facing Fenerbahce, opposing ballhandlers attempt the fewest shots and commit the most turnovers in the EuroLeague. And Fenerbahce accomplishes this with league-low fouling rates in such situations. Although that sometimes leaves Zeljko Obradovic's men vulnerable to the EuroLeague's most-talented passers, the approach – on average – has held up historically well.

Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, in contrast, has done better guarding the pick-and-roll overall in terms of efficiency, allowing a EuroLeague-best 0.89 points per possession. Maccabi has faced some 70 more pick-and-roll possessions than Fenerbahce and does not throw as much attention at ballhandlers, preferring to stay put and contest shots more comfortably off the ball. The balance between preventing and defending in these cases is an interesting one. Though it may be a simplistic view of nuanced game plans that steadily evolve, Maccabi and Fenerbahce join Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade and Khimki Moscow Region as the four most effective pick-and-roll defenses by a comfortable margin.

For Spanoulis, his passing shined more than his scoring in the pick-and-roll against Fenerbahce in Round 17. He delivered several long, pin-point lobs in a losing effort. On the year, he ranks ninth in in points created by such passes out of the two-man game. Spanoulis's career arc has lined up better than most with the rise of pick-and-roll play. Its impact is readily apparent in his passing totals and how he achieved his record-breaking point total. Having scored 45% of his points using the pick-and-roll in his first season with Olympiacos, back in 2010-11, he is on a 71% pace this season. He ranked third in 2010-11 by creating 136 such pick-and-roll points but led the EuroLeague during the 2016-17 season by generating 400.

Looking Ahead to Round 18

The visit by Anadolu Efes Istanbul (14-3) to FC Barcelona (13-4) has clear implications at the top of the standings, but the game between LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade to break up the gridlock of four teams with 8-8 records is intriguing, too, especially given ASVEL's two-point OT victory in Belgrade in Round 8. Lorenzo Brown and Billy Baron have come alive in recent weeks to put Zvezda, which is enjoying a three-game winning streak, in the thick of the playoffs race. How ASVEL deals with that pair will be interesting.