For the first time in modern EuroLeague Playoffs history, three road teams were victorious in Game 1.
Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, Maccabi make Game 1 history on the road
Wednesday, April 24
AS Monaco 91-95 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Fenerbahce rallied from 14 points down to steal home-court advantage from Monaco with a 91-95 overtime victory in Game 1 of the best-of-five playoffs series. Fenerbahce buried 3 three-pointers in overtime to grab control of the game. Nigel Hayes-Davis led the way with 19 points, Nick Calathes had 17 points and Nathan Sestina scored 16 points. Monaco got 51 points from the trio of Elie Okobo (19 points), Jordan Loyd (16) and Mike James (16).
FC Barcelona 75-77 Olympiacos Piraeus
Olympiacos had an 18-19 advantage after the first quarter, led 35-44 at halftime and took a 54-61 edge into the fourth quarter. Oscar da Silva opened the last quarter with a bucket from inside and Hernangomez netted one of his own to trim the deficit to 58-61. Olympiacos went 3 and a half minutes scoreless before Canaan made 3 of 3 from the line after drawing a foul from Laprovittola. Then, two straight McKissic buckets gave OIympiacos a 10-point cushion, but Barcelona responded with an 8-0 run thanks to 5 Rubio points and a Laprovittola triple to cut the difference to 67-69. Yet, a Canaan triple was followed by a Milutinov three-point play to extend Olympiacos’s lead to 67-75. However, Kalinic netted a bucket and Walkup committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Rubio, who made 2 of 2 from the line to make it 72-75 with 1 minute left on the clock. Larentzakis hit a couple from the line, but Hernangomez made 1 of 2 and Olympiacos clinched the victory in Barcelona.
Tuesday, April 23
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 87-91 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
The 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs have started with a bang! The first game is in the books as Maccabi edged Panathinaikos 87-91 in front of an outstanding sellout crowd in the Greek capital. Maccabi led 25-26 after 10 minutes, then Luca Vildoza and Mathias Lessort allowed Panathinaikos to get a 50-42 margin at halftime. Antonius Cleveland and James Webb got Maccabi closer, 70-63, at the end of the third quarter. Bonzie Colson struck twice from downtown and Lorenzo Brown added another one for a 77-81 Maccabi lead. Kendrick Nunn's layup turned the game into a thriller, 87-87, in the final minute. Brown and Josh Nebo sealed the outcome down the stretch. Colson led Maccabi with 18 points while Brown added 16. Lessort led all scorers with 22 points. Maccabi leads the series 0-1!
Real Madrid 90-74 Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Real underlined its status as the defending champion and regular season standings leader by comfortably downing Baskonia, 90-74, at WiZink Center on Tuesday. The teams will meet again in the Spanish capital for Game 2 on Thursday. The home team needed little time to establish a double-digit margin, and the lead reached 17 points – 42-25 – midway through the second quarter. It was 48-37 at the interval, which grew beyond 20 points in the third and the outcome was never in doubt after that. Dzanan Musa led the hosts with 16 points, while Vincent Poirier dominated inside with 10 points and 7 rebounds, while Sergio Llull hit 2 triples to become the competition’s all-time leader in three-pointers made. Markus Howard paced Baskonia with 15 points despite only playing 18 minutes due to a knee injury.