Game 2 of the playoff series between Real Madrid and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade was stopped with 1 minute 40 seconds to play on Thursday when an altercation on court happened and most of both benches emptied.. The game is considered officially ended with the score at the time it was stopped 80-95, in favor of Partizan, which therefore now leads the series 2-0.

 Euroleague Basketball official report regarding Game 2 between Real Madrid and Partizan 

Game 2 of the playoff series between Real Madrid and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade was stopped with 1 minute 40 seconds to play on Thursday when an altercation on court happened and most of both benches emptied. 

When disqualifications were applied for those players participating in the altercation and those automatically ejected for leaving the bench area, neither team had the requisite minimum of two players each required to finish the game, therefore the game is considered officially ended with the score at the time it was stopped, 80-95 in favor of Partizan, which therefore now leads the series 2-0.

Euroleague Basketball has referred the reported facts to the Euroleague Basketball Independent Disciplinary Judge, who will issue a decision about the on-court incidents in accordance with the established proceedings, within the following 24 hours.

Euroleague Basketball strongly condemns the events that happened at the end of the game. Such events do not represent the values of respect that the league and its clubs promote and that the sport of basketball embodies.

Moment when Real Madrid-Partizan game was stopped

Euroleague Basketball official report on Game 2 between Real Madrid and Partizan

Real Madrid v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2023-04-27T18:45:00.000Z)

AS Monaco boosted its hopes of advancing to the Final Four by grabbing a powerful 86-74 victory over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on Thursday night, and some of the stats on the scoresheet were more than a little deceptive.

Deceptive stats in Monaco's win over Maccabi

AS Monaco boosted its hopes of advancing to the Final Four by grabbing a powerful 86-74 victory over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on Thursday night, and some of the stats on the scoresheet were more than a little deceptive.

First, the final margin of 12 points does not really reflect the dominance that the Roca Team enjoyed over the course of the game. Monaco started the game with an 11-0 run to take immediate control and proceeded to lead nearly all the way. Maccabi did initially respond and even went ahead, 22-23 and 24-26, early in the second quarter. But those advantages only lasted for a grand total of 40 seconds, before Monaco stiffened its resolve to take control again. 

In the second half, Monaco’s 15-3 start to the third quarter established a double-digit advantage that would remain intact for most of the remaining time and reached a maximum of 18 points, 76-58, with 7 minutes remaining. Maccabi never got closer than 8 points down in the last 16 minutes of the game, and the final winning margin could have easily been far higher than the final 12 points.

Game Videos

Another misleading stat is the rebounding column, which shows that Maccabi won the battle of the boards 40-32. But that doesn’t reveal how Monaco greatly improved after the break, especially at the offensive end. The hosts only had 2 offensive boards in the opening two quarters, but added another 8 more and used them to score 11 second-chance points.

And we can also point to Mike James’s relatively low PIR of 11 as a number that doesn’t paint an accurate picture. That figure is mostly explained by the star guard’s wayward three-point shooting, converting just 1 of 7 attempts from long-range, but badly reflects his overall impact on the game as he led the offense by dishing 6 assists and attracting plenty of defensive attention that allowed teammates – notably Jordan Loyd – to excel.

Two numbers that do really help to tell the story of the game, however, are the 17 turnovers committed by Maccabi against only 10 by Monaco. That prevented Maccabi from ever really establishing an offensive rhythm and saw the home team score 22 points off turnovers compared to just 12 from the visiting team.

Game News

AS Monaco v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2023-04-27T18:15:00.000Z)

Live Blog, EuroLeague Playoffs: Game 2, Monaco vs. Maccabi

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Monaco evens the series by beating Maccabi 86-74

Jordan Loyd, Monaco: 'We’re not satisfied'

### AS Monaco head coach Sasa Obradovic:

"I feel good. This game shows what damage we had by playing the \[French\] cup two days before this. Without any preparation, what happened, happened in the first game. Today was a completely different face. Tactically we answered much better to their defense which surprised us in the first game, and of course, Jordan Loyd made the difference along with Yakuba Ouattara. Everything is on the table now, we know it’s going to be really hard to play there. Of course, we’ll have to be mentally ready for that kind of atmosphere."

### Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv head coach Oded Kattash:

"Very aggressive game. Basically, we’ve got to let both teams be aggressive in the same way, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the case tonight. But we fought hard, we knew we would face that kind of game. Defensively we need to be more calm and relax a little bit, but that’s tough in that atmosphere. I’m always confident when I have those guys with me.

"I’m very proud of the guys. They are fighting, they never give up. That’s very important. I think we put the right effort to come back to win the game. Unfortunately, it was a different result but I’m proud of the guys."

### AS Monaco guard Jordan Loyd:

"We know this is just one game. This is what we’re supposed to do. There was a lot of disrespect in that first game and we didn’t play the way we should. This is just one game, it’s a long series. It’s basketball. The ball didn’t go in for us in the first game, tonight it did. But like I keep saying, it’s just one game. We’re not satisfied, that’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re ready to go to Tel Aviv and do the same thing."

 

### AS Monaco forward Yakuba Ouattara:

"That was very important for us to make a big statement on toughness. That was the biggest adjustment we made from the first game. We have to be ready mentally. We go over there for war, and be ready."

Game 2: Four teams aim to take 2-0 leads

Game 2 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs lifts off on Thursday and Friday, with Game 1's winners aiming to take another step towards Final Four glory. Here's your lowdown of the action. 

[Real Madrid vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/real-madrid-partizan-mozzart-bet-belgrade/E2022/313/)

After Kevin Punter's buzzer-beating heroics in an 87-89 Game 1 road win two days earlier, Partizan will look to move within one victory of the Final Four on Thursday by again overcoming host Real. A big question is whether – and how much – Real big man Walter Tavares can play after limping out of Game 1 with a knee injury. Long-range shooting accuracy – just like Punter's dramatic game winner – could also be crucial. Partizan made 50% (13 of 26) of its three-point attempts in Game 1, including three without a miss from versatile big man Alen Smailagic, while Real converted just 31.8% (7 of 22) of deep strikes.

Playoffs, Game 2 at a glance: Real Madrid vs. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade

[AS Monaco vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/as-monaco-maccabi-playtika-tel-aviv/E2022/312/)

Monaco will attempt to tie up the series after suffering a 67-79 home loss to Maccabi in Game 1. Although Maccabi is best known for its explosive offense, the Israeli team chiefly excelled through defense on Tuesday, restricting Monaco to just 67 points and winning every quarter by holding the hosts to no more than 17 points in any period. To change that, Monaco needs the talented backcourt trio of Mike James, Elie Okobo and Jordan Loyd to find their range from deep, after they combined for just 2 conversions on 18 three-point attempts. 

Playoffs, Game 2 at a glance: AS Monaco vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv

[FC Barcelona vs. Zalgiris Kaunas ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/fc-barcelona-zalgiris-kaunas/E2022/314/)

Everything went according to the script in Game 1 for Barcelona, which dominated from start to finish to gain a comfortable 91-69 victory over Zalgiris. Rebounding, in which Barca had a 37 to 28 advantage, and three-point shooting (14 of 26 converted) were two of the keys for Saras Jasikevicius's team, who will look to maintain the pressure by delivering a similarly focused performance at Palau Blaugrana on Friday. Zalgiris simply cannot afford the same kind of slow and sloppy start which allowed Barca to race into a double-digit lead way before the end of the first quarter, and the opening minutes of this Game 2 clash could be crucial in setting the tempo for the remainder of the game.

[Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/olympiacos-piraeus-fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/E2022/311/)

Regular season standings leader Olympiacos backed up its status as title favorite by claiming Game 1 by 79-68 against Fenerbahce with a solid performance on Wednesday. In addition to the usual scoring exploits of Sasha Vezenkov, with 19 points, the Reds also benefitted from a stellar shooting display by Isaiah Canaan, who netted 6 three-pointers on just 7 attempts among a team total of 16 triples. Fenerbahce has now lost six straight on the road and needs a much stronger performance from veteran playmaker Nick Calathes after he managed just 7 points and 2 assists in the series opener.

Olympiacos Piraeus v Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (2023-04-28T18:30:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-04-28T18:00:00.000Z)

Fener's 'lost opportunity' as Reds overcame 'big pressure'

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul made top-ranked Olympiacos Piraeus work extra hard in Game 1 of their best-of-five playoff series, but the Reds managed to hold off the visitors in a 79-68 win.

Fenerbahce was still within 5 points early in the fourth quarter, 63-58. Then the Reds scored the next 10 points to put the game away.

"It was a lost opportunity in the way how we wanted the game to go," said Fenerbahce head coach Dimitris Itoudis.

His team suffered a pair of blowout regular-season losses against Olympiacos, one by 27 and the other by 20 points. In both of those, Olympiacos led by more than 20 points in the first half and never looked back.

On Wednesday night, it was a back-and-forth affair in the first half and Fenerbahce kept up with the hosts for all but one quarter. But, the combination of Olympiacos's defense and its record shooting stirred the game the Reds' way.

"In a game where Olympiacos scored more than 20 points in only one quarter, we were better in rebounds, even in assists. But 14 turnovers hurt us to just 5 steals, and Olympiacos had 7 of each. That's a big thing," Itoudis stressed. 

Standings-leaders Olympiacos look to underline their status as title-favourites by protecting their homecourt and maintaining possession against visiting Fenerbahçe, who stumbled into the top-eight despite losing three of their last four and have issues to address defensively.

Olympiacos Piraeus vs Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul - Playoffs Game 1 - Highlights

The Olympiacos defense forced 9 turnovers after halftime, while the team shot 10-for-16 from downtown in the second half en route to making 16 triples on 55.2% shooting, both club records.

Then there was Isaiah Canaan, who netted 5 of his 6 three-pointers in the third quarter, giving Olympiacos the momentum that threw the visitors into a 12-point hole they never manage to fully dig themselves out of.

Such an extra boost was much needed for the Reds. Before Canaan started firing in triples, Olympiacos spent the better part of the game trailing in front of the sold-out Peace and Friendship Stadium. It was part of Fenerbahce sticking well to its game plan and part of the Reds feeling the nerves. And pressure.

"The team with the home-court advantage plays under big pressure," a relieved Coach Georgios Bartzokas said at the post-game press conference. "You work the whole year for this advantage and in 40 minutes you can throw it \[away\]."

The Reds did not throw away the precious advantage, but found a way to comfortably close out the game and grab a 1-0 lead. They have plenty of reasons for optimism ahead of Game 2, but Fenerbahce has many good things to build on, too, setting us up for another treat between two mighty opponents on Friday night.

Olympiacos Piraeus v Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (2023-04-26T18:45:00.000Z)

It was no real surprise when FC Barcelona's starting five included Jan Vesely against Zalgiris Kaunas in Game 1 of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, but it ended up being Sertac Sanli and not the 2019 MVP who had the biggest impact from the 5 position in the Blaugrana's 91-69 victory.

Sertac Sanli, Mike Tobey came up big for Barcelona in Game 1

It was no real surprise when FC Barcelona's starting five included Jan Vesely against Zalgiris Kaunas in Game 1 of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, but it ended up being Sertac Sanli and not the 2019 MVP who had the biggest impact from the 5 position in the Blaugrana's 91-69 victory.

Sanli finished with 17 points after going 4-of-6 on two-pointers, 2-of-3 on triples and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line, which is his new playoff record for points as a Barca player. Previously, the highest total he achieved was the 16 points he scored in Barca's third-place game against Olympiacos Piraeus last season. Against Zalgiris, Sanli also pulled down 5 rebounds, dished 1 assist, recorded 1 steal and didn’t commit a single turnover in 16:47 minutes on the floor.

Sanli made an instant impression after replacing Vesely with 2:18 left in the first quarter, as he grabbed an offensive rebound and completed a three-point play to give Barca a commanding 14-point lead, 20-6. At the end of the first quarter, Sanli poured water on any feint hopes of a Zalgiris resurgence by scoring a layup to end a 0-4 run for the visitors, 22-13.

The 31-year-old replicated his first-quarter totals of 5 points and 1 rebound in the second quarter, with 3 of those points coming courtesy of a three-pointer just before halftime. First it was Sanli who struck from deep and then it was Nikola Mirotic, as Barca closed the first period ahead by 17 points, 48-31.

Sertac Sanli scored a game-high 17 points in FC Barcelona's 91-69 Game 1 win against Zalgiris Kaunas in the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs.

Sertac Sanli's made field goals vs. Zalgiris

Zalgiris struggled to deal with Sanli whenever he was on the floor, and that theme continued after the break, with the Barca big man adding 2 points and 1 assist in the third quarter before scoring 5 points, grabbing 3 rebounds and having 1 steal in the final period.

Sanli ended the night as Barca's – and the game's – top scorer with his 17 points, and he helped set the tone for the rest of the games in this season, from the hosts' perspective at least. Yet, the center is trying to keep everyone's feet on the ground after Barca's 22-point victory.

"The score looks good, but it was a really tough game because it was a playoff game," said Sanli in his post-game interview. "We prepared for it and we put the hustle on the court – from the jump ball until the end. That's how we won the game. We need to keep playing like this. We need to keep hustling on the court, and we can get the next game."

The luxury for Barca head coach Saras Jasikevicius is that he can call upon two very talented backup centers in Sanli and Mike Tobey, who both have different skillsets to regular starter Vesely and can apply pressure on the Czech international. Tobey also had a good impact against Zalgiris with 9 points and 7 rebounds, meaning that Barca's backup bigs combined for 26 points and 12 rebounds. That type of contribution more than made up for a quiet night by Vesely, who finished with 4 points, 3 boards and 1 steal.

Mike Tobey scored 9 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in FC Barcelona's 91-69 Game 1 win against Zalgiris Kaunas in the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs.

Mike Tobey's field goals vs. Zalgiris

With Game 2 set to take place on Friday night, less than 48 hours after Game 1 concluded, it will be key that Barca continues to get production from its big men, particularly considering the joy the hosts had on the offensive glass. Barca grabbed a total of 37 rebounds against Zalgiris in Game 1, of which 13 came on the offensive end. Sanli and Tobey grabbed 3 apiece, meaning that they had just under half of Barca's offensive rebounds on the night.

There's still some way to go before Barca can start planning its third successive trip to the Final Four, but with notable contributions from bench players like Sanli and Tobey, it's hard to see how Zalgiris can keep pace with one of the EuroLeague's behemoth clubs. Let's see how things pan out in Game 2 on Friday night.

FC Barcelona v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-04-26T18:00:00.000Z)

[Kevin Punter](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kevin-punter/009862/) lifted Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade to [a thrilling 87-89 series opening road win](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/real-madrid-partizan-mozzart-bet-belgrade/E2022/309/) over Real Madrid and in the process earned the honor as the MVP of Game 1 of the playoffs. Punter drained a game-winning three-pointer with 0.4 seconds on the clock and finished the game with 26 points. He knocked down 5-of-8 three-pointers, made 9 of 9 free throws and tied his career-high with 6 assists. Punter's career-high PIR of 33 was the best among players on winning teams in Game 1, securing him his second MVP of the Round honor.

Also with a PIR of 33 in that game, but in a losing effort, was Real's [Gabriel Deck](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/gabriel-deck/009005/), who scored 24 points on 8-for-8 two-point shooting, tied for the third-best in a playoff game since 2005. Deck also made 8 of 11 free throws, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished 1 assist and collected 1 steal. The next best PIR, 26, belonged to [Wade Baldwin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/wade-baldwin-iv/009863/) of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. In his team's [67-79 road win](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/as-monaco-maccabi-playtika-tel-aviv/E2022/308/) at AS Monaco, Baldwin collected 20 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Five different players had PIRs of 20: [Sertac Sanli](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/sertac-sanli/002968/) of FC Barcelona, Monaco's [Alpha Diallo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/alpha-diallo/011226/), Real's [Walter Tavares](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/walter-tavares/005791/), [Marko Guduric](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/marko-guduric/004004/) of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and [Moustapha Fall](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/moustapha-fall/008811/) of Olympiacos Piraeus.

Kevin Punter lifted Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade to a thrilling 87-89 series opening road win over Real Madrid and in the process earned the honor as the MVP of Game 1 of the playoffs.

Kevin Punter | Playoffs Game 1 MVP | 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

### Individual highs: Thomas Walkup of Olympiacos, 4 steals

Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade led all players in the playoffs with 26 points in Game 1. Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos Piraeus remained the EuroLeague's scoring leader with 17.7 points per game. Gabriel Deck of Real Madrid and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv center Josh Nebo each had 8 rebounds in their respective team's series opener. Partizan center Mathias Lessort leads the league with 7.1 rebounds per game. 

Four players - Punter, Maccabi's Wade Baldwin, Alpha Diallo of AS Monaco and Marko Guduric of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul – each had 6 assists in Game 1. Darius Thompson of Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz tops the season-long charts with 6.7 assists per game. Olympiacos guard Thomas Walkup led all players with 4 steals. Walkup leads the EuroLeague with 1.9 steals per game. In Game 1, there were 12 players with a blocked shot, but no players had multiple blocks.

Playoffs Game 1 MVP: Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 

Real Madrid v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2023-04-25T18:45:00.000Z)

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans, we have our 35th winner in the [EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge, powered by Ardu Prime](https://euroleaguefantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/es/home?_ga=2.183428262.1008357699.1682319962-884385655.1669721726)! Vytautas Simaitis beat everyone else in Playoffs Game 1 as his team Jevrolyga had a whopping Fantasy Challenge score of 237.05.

Vytautas used the following lineup: Gabriel Deck (team captain) of Real Madrid, Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Mike James of AS Monaco, Josh Nebo of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and his teammate Wade Baldwin all as starters. Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos Piraeus was his sixth man.

The bench featured Sertac Sanli and Kyle Kuric of FC Barcelona, Isaiah Canaan of Olympiacos, and Tomas Dimsa of Zalgiris Kaunas. His coach was Georgios Bartzokas of Olympiacos Piraeus. 

The prize for finishing first in Round 35 is a free subscription to EuroLeague TV for the 2023-24 season!

Christos Anatolitis stays atop the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge overall standings. Christos leads everyone else with a score of 6,112.1 fantasy points.

Trades are now open for Game 2 of the playoffs. Remember, unlimited trading is allowed before each round until the end of the season, throughout the playoffs and the Final Four!

The first game in this round is AS Monaco vs. Maccabi, scheduled on Thursday, April 27 at 20:15 CET, making that the next round's deadline for trades.

Try to improve your teams and challenge for more prizes at the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge, powered by Ardu Prime!