Cluj's 0-1 Eurocup start looks far worse than the team Venezia will actually face. That 55-89 loss in Rome came without their starting point guard, and before their new center had played a single game. With both back, Cluj looked like a different side in their next outing. That gap between the scoreline and the team on the floor is what this slip is about.
The Rome game was a mess for reasons that are easy to see. Otis Livingston was out injured, and Cluj went 4 of 32 from three with 15 turnovers. That's not a level a team stays at.
Four days later at Vienna, Livingston started and Uros Plavsic made his season debut after missing most of preseason. Cluj won 95-84, hit 41% from deep, and Javonte Smart and Plavsic ran the offense well. It's a brand-new roster still learning each other, but it has the same coach and the same system, as Venezia's coach Neven Spahija pointed out himself.
Venezia are in good shape and come in on a run, but they're thinner up front than usual. Giga Janelidze is out of the rotation with a hip problem and there's no timeline for his return. That matters against a Cluj side now built around Plavsic inside. Venezia have also been shooting 44% from three over their recent games, and that's a hot streak to carry into a loud road arena.
The schedules are basically even, with both teams playing four days ago and both back in action at the weekend, so neither side has a fatigue excuse. Cluj have also won the last two meetings at home, one of them 103-102 in overtime.
