Fenerbahce confirmed a top-10 finish by winning on Thursday, and Olympiacos sealed a top-six spot by triumphing in the Greek derby
Game Center: Oly holds off PAO to reach playoffs; Efes, Barcelona both victorious
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Friday, March 14
Olympiacos Piraeus 76-74 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Olympiacos extended its winning streak against Panathinaikos to eight games by edging past its rival 76-74 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday night. The hosts led for most of the game and were up by as many as 17 points (58-39) with 3:38 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Panathinaikos showed character and bounced back in the fourth, making it a one-possession game in the closing stages, but didn’t manage to complete the comeback.
Having also won away at Panathinaikos earlier this season, the EuroLeague leader claimed the head-to-head advantage while also mathematically sealed a top-six spot, improving its record to 22-7. Meanwhile, the guests dropped to 18-11 in their pursuit of a top-four finish.
Sasha Vezenkov paced Olympiacos with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Nigel Williams-Goss scored 14 points before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury. Kostas Papanikolaou netted 11 and Moustapha Fall added 10. For Panathinaikos, Konstantinos Mitoglou scored a team-high 18 points, Cedi Osman recorded 13, 9 of which were scored in the first quarter, Lorenzo Brown poured in 11 and Juancho Hernangomez had 10.
FC Bayern Munich 92-97 Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Efes grabbed its third consecutive victory by topping Bayern 92-97 at SAP Garden in Round 29 on Friday. Efes improved to 15-14 in the standings while Bayern dropped to 17-12 having lost just its third home game this season. Shane Larkin paced the winners with 25 points. Rodrigue Beaubois added 23 while Dan Oturu and Elijah Bryant each had 12 for Efes. Nick Weiler-Babb and Carsen Edwards led Bayern with 18 points apiece. Johannes Voigtmann added 16 while Elias Harris had 15 for the hosts.
Thursday, March 13
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 92-82 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Fenerbahce has become the second team to book a spot in the EuroLeague postseason after beating ASVEL 92-82 in Round 29. Saras Jasikevicius’s men improved to 20-9 having won their fifth straight game at Ulker Sport and Event Hall, while Pierric Poupet’s ASVEL suffered a sixth straight defeat to fall to 11-17. Wade Baldwin led Fenerbahce in scoring with 15 points, in addition to posting a team-high 6 assists. Bonzie Colson and Errick McCollum both chipped in with 10 points apiece. Impressively, nine of the 11 Fenerbahce players that stepped onto the floor netted at least 8 points. For ASVEL, Joffrey Lauvergne poured in a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-best 9 rebounds. Nando De Colo recorded a 13-point, 11-assist double-double, with Andre Roberson adding 11 points and Neal Sako contributing 10 points.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 80-82 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Milan took a big step towards clinching a postseason berth after improving to 16-13 with an industrious win at Crvena Zvezda, which slipped to a third loss in a row. Nikola Mirotic paced Milan with a game-high 19 points to go with 7 boards and Zach LeDay chipped in with 15 points for the Italian side, which clawed out the victory in a physical contest devoid of much spectacular action. Nemanja Nedovic and Nikola Kalinic led Zvezda with 12 points apiece, but the Serbian side lacked a clutch player able to swing the contest its way in a tense finish as it slipped to 16-13.
Zalgiris Kaunas 83-81 Paris Basketball
Zalgiris erased a 20-point second-quarter deficit with a dominant second half to defeat Paris at Zalgirio Arena. The Lithuanian champs were down 16 at halftime before opening the third quarter with 10 straight points and finally taking their first lead through Bryant Dunston with the first basket of the fourth quarter. TJ Shorts tied it for Paris late, but there was enough time left for Sylvain Francisco to win it with a jumper with 2.5 seconds remaining. The victory lifted Zalgiris's record to 14-15 on the season, which Paris slipped to 16-13. Francisco finished with 15 points and 8 assists. Shorts scored a game-high 21 for Paris.
ALBA Berlin 97-90 Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
The wait is finally over for ALBA as it won its first home game in four months by beating Baskonia in the first contest under new head coach Pedro Calles. ALBA mounted a 13-4 stretch spanning the two final quarters to snap an eight-game home losing streak. Matt Thomas drained 5 three-pointers for 21 points and Gabriele Procida and Martin Hermannsson both scored 13 points for the winners. Nikos Rogkavopoulos netter 17 points to pace five players in double figures for Baskonia, which fell to 12-17.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 91-88 AS Monaco
Maccabi extended its winning streak to three games by defeating Monaco at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. In an entertaining back-and-forth clash featuring several lead changes, the hosts closed the game with a 7-0 run to record three wins in a row for the first time this season. Maccabi may have missed out on the postseason, but this victory improves its record to 9-20. Meanwhile, Monaco is still pushing for a top-four spot despite dropping to 17-12. Roman Sorkin and Rokas Jokubaitis paced Maccabi with 18 points each. For Monaco, Mike James led all scorers with 25 points.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna 67-80 Real Madrid
Real Madrid won on the road for the first time in over a month as it defeated Virtus 67-80 in Round 29. With this result, Los Blancos’ postseason hopes were boosted as they improved to a 15-14 record, while the hosts fell to 7-22. Dzanan Musa and Walter Tavares led the way with 13 points apiece for Real Madrid, with Mario Hezonja and Usman Garuba both scoring 10 points each, too. Virtus’s leading scorer was Matt Morgan with 11 points, followed by Rayjon Tucker with 10.