The penultimate round of the regular season has now closed, with several teams booking their place in the postseason on Thursday and Friday
Game Center: Postseason picture is becoming clearer after Round 33
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Round 33's impact on the postseason
Coming into Round 33, there was just one team that had secured its place in the EuroLeague Playoffs: Real Madrid. Well, Thursday night saw five teams join the reigning EuroLeague champion in the playoffs.
AS Monaco, FC Barcelona and Olympiacos Piraeus all won their respective games on Thursday night, while Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's loss at Palau Blaugrana allowed Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to join the aforementioned four teams.
Maccabi's defeat also confirmed that it as the first seed in the Play-In Showdown. Virtus Segafredo Bologna came into Round 33 knowing it would be in the play-in, while Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz sealed its place in the play-in with a win at Real Madrid. The final play-in spot is in Anadolu Efes Istanbul's hands, with EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade ready to pounce in case it slips up in Round 34.
Thursday, April 4
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 80-82 Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Efes took a massive step towards securing a place in the Play-In Showdown with a thrilling 80-82 win over its city rival Fenerbahce on Friday night. Efes improved to a 16-17 mark on the season and now controls its postseason faith, as it can clinch a play-in place with a win in its season finale against Crvena Zvezda next week. Fenerbahce, meanwhile, suffered just its second home loss of the season, dropping to 20-13. By Panathinaikos beating Bayern, also on Friday, Fenerbahce cannot clinch home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Real Madrid 91-95 Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Baskonia secured a place in the play-in, showing great resolve on the road to overcome a 15-point deficit and down reigning champ Real Madrid, 91-95, in a thriller. For the second year in a row, it was able to win at WiZink Center in a dramatic finale. Real found its flow quickly and raced into a double-digit advantage in the first quarter thanks to superb transition offense. But Baskonia improved drastically from the second quarter and launched several small runs to eventually take the lead, staying strong in the final stages with 30 points scored in the fourth quarter.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 90-75 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Milan stayed in the fight to make it to the EuroLeague Play-in Showdown by downing Virtus 90-75 in the Italian Derby on Friday night. Milan improved to 15-18 in the standings while Virtus dropped to 17-16. Nikola Mirotic paced the winners with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Stefano Tonut added 15 points, Nicolo Melli had 13 while Shavon Shields got 11 for Milan. Toko Shengelia led Virtus with 21 points. Marco Belinelli added 13 for the guests.
FC Bayern Munich 75-82 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Panathinaikos (22-11) edged closer to a top-four finish in the EuroLeague Regular Season after a 75-82 win at Bayern (13-20), whose hopes of sneaking into the competition's play-in were vanquished. The Greens will be assured of clinching home-court advantage if they beat bottom team ALBA Berlin (5-28) at home in the final round, as Kendrick Nunn led a concerted team effort against Bayern with 17 points and 4 rebounds.
Thursday, April 4
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 86-89 Olympiacos Piraeus
Moses Wright came up huge in the fourth quarter as Olympiacos held on to an 86-89 road win at Crvena Zvezda to clinch a place in the EuroLeague Playoffs. Wright scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, including 8 of Olympiacos's final 10 points of the game.
AS Monaco 69-66 Zalgiris Kaunas
Monaco has joined Real Madrid and Olympiacos in qualifying for the playoffs following a 69-66 win against Zalgiris on Thursday evening. Should Barcelona lose at home to Maccabi a little later on Thursday, Monaco will also secure home-court advantage in the playoffs. Mike James led the way for Monaco with a game-high 18 points, followed by Donatas Motiejunas with 14 and Jaron Blossomgame with 11, all of which came in the first half. For Zalgiris, Keenan Evans scored 8 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to help keep things close. Brady Manek also had 12 points and Kevarrius Hayes added 11.
FC Barcelona 92-89 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Barcelona qualified for the EuroLeague Playoffs by edging Maccabi 92-89 at home in Round 33 on Thursday. Barca improved to 22-11 and punched its playoff ticket. Maccabi dropped to 19-14 and will be seventh at the end of this round. Jan Vesely and Alex Abrines paced the winners with 17 points apiece. Nico Laprovittola added 15, dished 9 assists and buried the game-winning three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left. Jabari Parker had 14 points, Oscar da Silva got 10 while Tomas Satoransky grabbed 11 rebounds for Barca. Wade Baldwin led Maccabi with 22 points. Josh Nebo added 14 and John DiBartolomeo had 12.
ALBA Berlin 83-94 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Partizan (15-18) kept alive its hopes of snatching a play-in berth in the final round of the EuroLeague Regular Season after a balanced team effort gave the Serbian team a lifeline 83-94 win at ALBA (5-28). Five players scored in double digits for the visitors, with James Nunnally leading the way as he racked up 19 points and 4 assists. Kevin Punter and PJ Dozier scored 15 points each, Zach LeDay added 14 and Aleksa Avramovic netted 11 points for Partizan, which forced 18 turnovers from ALBA. At the other end, Johannes Thiemann stood out for the home side with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds. Matt Thomas scored 16 points for ALBA, Sterling Brown added 14 and Yanni Wetzell netted 11.
Valencia Basket 69-98 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
ASVEL pulled off its finest outing of the season at La Fonteta to cruise past Valencia and record a 69-98 win on Thursday night. With its victory, the French side improved to an 8-25 record and ensured it does not finish bottom of the standings. Meanwhile, Valencia dropped to 14-19 and will be officially eliminated from play-in contention should Efes beat Fenerbahce in the Turkish Derby on Friday evening.