If you just saw how they started and ended the regular season – with twin defeats against the same non-playoff team, Unicaja Malaga – you might wonder about Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul's ability to defend its first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title.

But no one doubts that ability, even for a nanosecond, because only a buzzer-beater loss to CSKA Moscow at home kept Fenerbahce from matching the best record over the 28 games between the regular season's opener and finale.