On the final night of the regular season, Virtus and Baskonia square off in a clash that will send them on very different postseason paths.
Friday's finale brings huge consequences for Virtus, Baskonia
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It became clearer and clearer, game by game over the last month or more, that the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season finale between Virtus Segafredo Bologna and Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz would influence the playoff race in one way or another.
That said, few envisioned that their game at Virtus Segafredo Arena on Friday would carry such huge consequences for both sides.
As these two clubs were battling their way through the regular season, it had seemed as though Virtus, masterfully guided by head coach Luca Banchi, would be fighting for home-court advantage in the playoffs. Meanwhile, a run that saw its record surge to 16-13 briefly put Baskonia in the conversation about a top-six finish and direct passage to the best-of-five playoffs.
In recent weeks, however, little went as planned for either team.
Sliding down the standings
Virtus has been falling down the standings for a couple of months. The team from Bologna has a six-game losing streak going into Friday and has dropped nine of its last 11. A squad that surprised everyone by starting with 14-5 record and was alone in second place on January 10 has to console itself now with having clinched a Play-In Showdown spot early. What's more, its once-valuable 10-point road win over Baskonia no longer has any tiebreak value whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Baskonia suffered its own three-game losing streak in March, only snapping out of it in the nick of time last week by coming back to defeat league leader Real Madrid. That road win finally clinched a play-in spot that was quickly slipping away.
Now, on the final day of the regular season, both have 17-16 records. Neither is where it wanted to be – in the Play-In Showdown rather than straight through to the playoffs – but Virtus and Baskonia know that one last regular-season victory can make a big difference.
A last chance for a major advantage
The winner of their Friday night clash in Bologna will clinch eighth place in the standings and the loser will finish 10th due to tiebreak disadvantages that both have with Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
As such, tonight's winner will travel to face seventh-place Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on the first night of the Play-In Showdown, next Tuesday, April 16. Unlike what awaits tonight's loser, however, that game with Maccabi will not be of the must-win, one-and-done variety. Should Maccabi beat either Virtus or Baskonia next Tuesday, the loser still gets one more chance to reach the playoffs by hosting the last play-in game against the winner between ninth-placed Efes and the 10th-placed loser of tonight's game, also next Tuesday.
In short, not only is tonight's winner between Virtus and Baskonia guaranteed two chances to reach the playoffs, but it would play that second play-in game in front of its own fans on Friday, April 19.
Conversely, the loser between Virtus and Baskonia tonight will finish 10th and face a mighty steep climb to the playoffs, starting with a do-or-die visit to red-hot Efes. Then, even if successful against Efes, tonight's loser would have to travel once again to play the second play-in game on Friday, against either Maccabi or the team it will have just lost to in Round 34.
Now it's up to the stars
With the importance of the game so clear, it's now up to both teams to find the way to win. Virtus is on a six-game losing streak, but only two of those loses have been at home, the last on a buzzer-beater.
Virtus's biggest star Tornike Shengelia (14.8 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 3.4 apg.) is back to the level that reminds of his performances at the beginning of the season, when he was voted EuroLeague MVP for October. The Italian team will really need him and fellow veterans Daniel Hackett (8.0 ppg., 3.6 apg., 3.1 rpg.) and Marco Belinelli (14.3 ppg.) to step up.
Baskonia, as dangerous on offense as any team, features EuroLeague scoring leader Markus Howard (19.0 ppg) and assist leader Codi Miller-McIntyre (7.2 apg.). But more than anything, Baskonia will need Tadas Sedekerskis (6.9 rpg.), Chima Moneke (6.8 rpg.) and Matthew Costello (4.1 rpg.) to control the rebounds and neutralize the energy that the hosts will surely keep bringing all night long.
Tipping off at 20:30 CET and broadcast on EuroLeague TV, Virtus and Baskonia will provide for the final answers to the EuroLeague postseason on the final night of the regular season.
Indeed, every game has counted, right down to the final night.