With Round 10 of the Euroleague Top 16 now complete, we have one team qualified for the playoffs and plenty of teams will believe that they are one or two good results away from booking their place in the next stage of the competition. There were two games in Group E and two games in Group on F to round out the week’s activity in the Euroleague.
Group E
Yet another local derby took place in Group E and these were two very tight games on Friday night, with all fans clinging on the end for the final outcome.
Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul 68 – Anadolu Efes Istanbul 72
There was an away win in the Istanbul derby as Efes retained their playoff hopes. The away team moves into fifth place in the group with a 4-6 record while the hosts are tied in sixth with Malaga, with a 3-6 record. Efes have won both of the games against their city rival, giving them the advantage between these teams.
While Efes took control very early on, the home team rallied late on, bouncing back from being ten points behind to be just two points behind in the last minute. However, the Efes defence stood tall and they managed to see the game out with Thomas Huertel taking the sting out of the game in the dying seconds.
Huertel grabbed 21 points, Jasyon Granger provided 14 points, Cedi Osman provided 13 points and Elijah Johnson offered up 11 points in his debut Euroleague game. Scottie Wilbekin came off the bench to grab 17 points for Darussafaka, Reggie Redding provided 12 points and Semih Erdin notched 11 points in the loss.
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 69 – Panathinaikos Athens 67
With both of these teams having playoff hopes and ambitions, there was a lot at stake and it was the hosts that managed to grab the win. Both of the teams now have a 6-4 record and the fact that Zvezda have won both of the games against their Greek opponents sees them taking the head to head advantage, which leaves them in third place in group.
The Greeks took control early on but the hosts rallied strongly and after trailing by 9 points at one stage, they were just three points behind at the break. This led to a 15-4 run in the third quarter which pushed the hosts to an 11 point and early on in the fourth quarter, the Belgrade side were 55-42 ahead. This should have been the game but the away team got a second wind and a 0-13 scoring run made it 55-55. The team from Athens couldn’t get ahead though and the hosts eased home.
Tarance Kinsey provided 19 points and Quincy Miller offered up 16 points in the win. Nemanja Dangubic provided 9 points in the win while Elliot Williams grabbed 17 points for the losing team. Miroslav Raduljica was also on form, providing 11 points and 7 rebounds in the defeat.
Group F
The two biggest teams in Spanish domestic basketball were in action on Friday night. While they both secured big wins, the nature of these victories were very different. The game in Catalonia may go down as one of the best Euroleague Top 16 games of the season.
Zalgiris Kaunas 75 – Real Madrid 90
At one point the hosts were looking got but the reigning Euroleague champions rallied strongly and eventually took the game late on. This win sees the Spanish giants move to a 6-4 record, and third spot in the group, while Zalgiris drop to a 2-8 record. The hosts were 8 ahead in the second quarter even though by half-time the score was 41-39. However, a 2-13 scoring run pushed Madrid clear and they never looked back from this point.
Andres Nocioni offered up 22 points, KC Rivers provided 14 points, Felipe Reyes grabbed 10 points while Sergio Rodriguez notched 9 points. For the hosts, Paulis Jankunas grabbed 21 points while Ian Vougioukas offered up 13 points in the loss.
FC Barcelona Lass 100 – CSKA Moscow 98
This was a massive night in Barcelona and although the Catalan club have only moved to a 5-5 record, they will take a great deal of confidence with the manner of victory. CSKA are now tied for first place with Laboral with a 7-3 record.
The game went to overtime and even then it was down to the final ten seconds. At this point, all looked lost for Barcelona but Justin Doellman sunk a three point shot to tie the game with just 4.4 seconds left on the clock. That may have seen an additional period come into play but Barcelona quickly stole possession and Doellman sunk the winner with just 1.5 seconds left on the clock.
The hosts were 47-38 ahead at the break but with five minutes left of the fourth quarter, CSKA Moscow were 70-79 ahead. Barcelona rallied and a Tomas Satoransky effort took the game to OT. Even then CSKA managed to grab a four point lead but this wasn’t enough to see out the match-up.
Ante Tomic grabbed 21 points in the win, Satoransky provided 19 points, Stratos Perperoglou offered up 15 points, Doellman grabbed 12 points and Juan Carlos Navarro offered up 11 points in the win. With 10 rebounds, Doellman helped himself to a double-double. For the away team, Nando De Clo achieved a career high with 30 points while Milos Teodosic provided 23 points in the loss. CSKA were also boosted by 17 points from Kyle Hines and 15 points from Andrey Vorontsevich.
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