The race for the playoffs is reaching boiling point following another thrilling round of action in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
Game Center: Three home wins from three to close Round 28
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Friday, March 8
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 85-67 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Panathinaikos registered its third consecutive win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by topping ASVEL 85-67 at OAKA in Round 28 on Friday. Panathinaikos improved to an 18-10 record while ASVEL dropped to 6-22. Jerian Grant paced the winners with 21 points. Mathias Lessort added 17, Marius Grigonis and Kostas Sloukas each had 14 while Kendrick Nunn got 10 for Panathinaikos. Nando De Colo led ASVEL with 15 points. Joffrey Lauvergne netted 11 and Noam Yaacov had 10 for the guests.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 88-71 ALBA Berlin
Baskonia (15-13) eased to an 88-71 home win over ALBA (6-22) and boosted its hopes of making the postseason, after a dominant performance in which Codi Miller-McIntyre stood out with 14 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds. A balanced team effort saw Chima Moneke pour in 16 points for the home side, Vanja Mainkovic added 15 while Matt Costello racked up 8 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. At the other end, Matt Thomas and Khalifa Koumadje paced ALBA with 12 points apiece, Elias Rapieque scored 11 in just 5:21 minutes on the court and Yanni Wetzell added 10.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 85-83 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Milan kept its postseason hopes alive with a nail-biting 85-83 victory over Partizan thanks to Shabazz Napier’s game-winner with 5 seconds remaining. Shavon Shields starred with 19 points and 6 assists, while Nikola Mirotic also scored 19 and Devon Hall added 18, with game-winner Napier providing 15 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Aleksa Avramovic again paced Partizan with 19 points, with Bruno Caboclo adding 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Thursday, March 7
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 109-86 FC Bayern Munich
Efes grabbed its third win in four games by thrashing Bayern 109-86 at home on Thursday. Both teams now have 12-16 records and Efes earned the tie-break advantage between them, overcoming an 86-71 loss in Munich in Round 15. Shane Larkin paced the winners with 28 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting. Will Clyburn added 21 points, Ercan Osmani had 11 while Elijah Byrant and Darius Thompson each got 10. Carsen Edwards led Bayern with 19 points. Vladimir Lucic added 18, Serge Ibaka 15 and Leo Bolmaro 10.
AS Monaco 99-75 Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
Monaco notched its seventh straight win by swatting aside Zvezda 99-75 on a special night for Mike James, as he surpassed Vassilis Spanoulis to become the EuroLeague’s all-time record scorer. Following this victory, Monaco has improved to an 18-10 record while Zvezda dropped to 10-18. James was the leading scorer in the game with 20 points, with Elie Okobo and Donatas Motiejunas both adding 14 for Monaco. Jaron Blossomgame had 12 and Donta Hall 10 in the win. For Zvezda, Luka Mitrovic posted 18 points, Yago Dos Santos 16, Rokas Giedraitis 13 and Joel Bolomboy 12.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 83-76 Zalgiris Kaunas
Maccabi (15-13) came out on top 83-76 against visiting Zalgiris (11-17) and stayed on course to reach the playoffs after scoring the last 7 points of a game in which the lead had changed hands time and again. Wade Baldwin paced five double-digit Maccabi scorers with 16 points. Tamir Blatt added 11 points while James Webb, Bonzie Colson and Josh Nebo chipped in with 10 each, the latter also racking up 9 rebounds. At the other end, Keenan Evans netted a game-high 18 points for Zalgiris while Edmond Sumner added 14, but his shooting dried up when the chips were down as he sank 12 in the first quarter. Edgaras Ulanovas amassed 10 points for Zalgiris, which committed 16 turnovers while managing as many assists.
Valencia Basket 78-88 FC Barcelona
Barcelona defended its spot in second place in the standings with a hard-fought 78-88 victory at Valencia. Jan Vesely shot a perfect 10-for-10 on two-pointers and hit his sole free throw for 21 points as Barcelona moved to 19-9 and assured itself a top 10 finish which comes with participation, at the very least, in the new Play-In Showdown phase between the regular season and the playoffs. Nikola Kalinic and Nicolas Laprovittola added 13 each and Jabari Parker 12 for the winners. Semi Ojeleye had 19 points and Chris Jones 15 in a loss that drops Valencia's record to 13-15.
Real Madrid 79-89 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Fenerbahce was dominant through the 40 minutes and clinched a well-earned win away at leader Real Madrid. The visitors improved to a 17-11 record, while Los Blancos dropped to 22-6 and missed out on the opportunity to become the first EuroLeague team to clinch playoff qualification on Thursday night. Nigel Hayes-Davis recorded a double-double by pairing his 17 points with 12 rebounds, with Scottie Wilbekin and Nick Calathes recording 12 points each. For Real Madrid, Sergio Llull netted 17 points and Walter Tavares registered 14.
Olympiacos Piraeus 74-69 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Olympiacos overcame injuries and rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Virtus on Thursday. Both teams now have a 17-11 record but Olympiacos secured the tie-break advantage between both squads. Kostas Papanikolaou paced the winners with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Isaiah Canaan added 12 points while Moustapha Fall had 11 for Olympiacos. Toko Shengelia led Virtus with 15 points. Daniel Hackett and Marco Belinelli each added 10 for the guests.