Barcelona’s Higgins, Efes’s Micic shine under Friday night lights
Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, witnessed one of the most exciting nights of semifinals in Final Four history. Friday's first game was a thriller that went down to the last seconds in which Anadolu Efes Istanbul advanced to its second straight championship game after holding off CSKA Moscow in what was a rematch of the 2019 championship game. Efes led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter before CSKA erased the deficit. The game came down to the closing seconds and Will Clyburn missed a go-ahead three, which allowed Efes to hold on. Vasilije Micic led the Efes attack with 25 points and 6 assists before fouling out and Sertac Sanli also shined with 19 points and 8 rebounds. For CSKA, Clyburn scored 26 and Daniel Hackett had 11 of his 17 in the fourth quarter.
In the second semi, FC Barcelona edged AX Armani Exchange Milan 84-82 on Cory Higgins's game-winning jumper with 0.8 seconds remaining. Barcelona fought back from an 8-point third-quarter deficit and survived a fourth quarter that featured three lead changes and was tied entering the final minute. Milan's Kevin Punter missed an open look from behind the arc before Higgins raced down the floor and buried a pull-up jumper from the top of the key, sending Barcelona through. Nikola Mirotic led the winners with 21 points and Nick Calathes tallied 17 points and 6 assists before leaving with an ankle injury. Higgins finished with 11 points and Pau Gasol scored 10 points for Barcelona, which returned to the championship game for the first time since 2010 when it won its second EuroLeague crown. Punter paced Milan with 23 points.