Game 2: Four teams aim to take 2-0 leads

Game 2 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs lifts off on Thursday and Friday, with Game 1's winners aiming to take another step towards Final Four glory. Here's your lowdown of the action.

Real Madrid vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade

After Kevin Punter's buzzer-beating heroics in an 87-89 Game 1 road win two days earlier, Partizan will look to move within one victory of the Final Four on Thursday by again overcoming host Real. A big question is whether – and how much – Real big man Walter Tavares can play after limping out of Game 1 with a knee injury. Long-range shooting accuracy – just like Punter's dramatic game winner – could also be crucial. Partizan made 50% (13 of 26) of its three-point attempts in Game 1, including three without a miss from versatile big man Alen Smailagic, while Real converted just 31.8% (7 of 22) of deep strikes.

AS Monaco vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv

Monaco will attempt to tie up the series after suffering a 67-79 home loss to Maccabi in Game 1. Although Maccabi is best known for its explosive offense, the Israeli team chiefly excelled through defense on Tuesday, restricting Monaco to just 67 points and winning every quarter by holding the hosts to no more than 17 points in any period. To change that, Monaco needs the talented backcourt trio of Mike James, Elie Okobo and Jordan Loyd to find their range from deep, after they combined for just 2 conversions on 18 three-point attempts.

FC Barcelona vs. Zalgiris Kaunas

Everything went according to the script in Game 1 for Barcelona, which dominated from start to finish to gain a comfortable 91-69 victory over Zalgiris. Rebounding, in which Barca had a 37 to 28 advantage, and three-point shooting (14 of 26 converted) were two of the keys for Saras Jasikevicius's team, who will look to maintain the pressure by delivering a similarly focused performance at Palau Blaugrana on Friday. Zalgiris simply cannot afford the same kind of slow and sloppy start which allowed Barca to race into a double-digit lead way before the end of the first quarter, and the opening minutes of this Game 2 clash could be crucial in setting the tempo for the remainder of the game.

Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

Regular season standings leader Olympiacos backed up its status as title favorite by claiming Game 1 by 79-68 against Fenerbahce with a solid performance on Wednesday. In addition to the usual scoring exploits of Sasha Vezenkov, with 19 points, the Reds also benefitted from a stellar shooting display by Isaiah Canaan, who netted 6 three-pointers on just 7 attempts among a team total of 16 triples. Fenerbahce has now lost six straight on the road and needs a much stronger performance from veteran playmaker Nick Calathes after he managed just 7 points and 2 assists in the series opener.