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Playoffs Game 3: Barca, Partizan aim for Final Four qualification

Playoffs Game 3: Barca, Partizan aim for Final Four qualification

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Playoffs Game 3: Barca, Partizan aim for Final Four qualification

Two teams can secure a ticket to the Final Four and two more are looking to maintain home-court advantage. Here's your guide to Game 3 of the playoffs on Tuesday and Wednesday!

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv vs. AS Monaco

Maccabi will hope that the regular season's best home record – 15 wins with just 2 losses – will again hold firm as it seeks to take control of a series tied 1-1 against Monaco. Game 2's MVP Jordan Loyd will again look to inspire the Roca Team after he poured in a career-high 33 points last time out. Nonetheless, Maccabi's deadly backcourt duo of Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin, with a combined average of 34 points and 10 assists in the series so far, can always be relied upon to deliver the goods for Maccabi.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade vs. Real Madrid

Partizan needs one more win to secure a Final Four berth but will be missing Kevin Punter, Mathias Lessort and Dante Exum for the visit of Real, which will have to do without Gabriel Deck and Guerschon Yabusele. The Spanish team will desperately hope that dominant big man Walter Tavares can return with full effectiveness after missing Game 2 with a knee injury, and will need Vincent Poirier to carry a heavy load inside the paint, while Partizan's weakened backcourt will see a bigger role for young playmaker Yam Madar.

Zalgiris Kaunas vs. FC Barcelona

Two defeats last week mean that Zalgiris faces the mountainous task of needing three consecutive victories over Barcelona. The host will certainly be able to count on the backing of a sold-out crowd, but the priority for Kazys Maksvytis's team is to slow down a Barca offense that scored 91 and 89 points in the first two games. Local hero Saras Jasikevicius will have no mercy as his team seeks a quick return to Zalgirio Arena for the Final Four, and star man Nikola Mirotic – with an average of 18.5 points in the first two games – is in top form.

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul vs. Olympiacos Piraeus

With the series tied after Fenerbahce's impressive road win in Piraeus on Friday, the Turkish titan will now look to make home-court advantage count against an Olympiacos team desperate to bounce back. The all-round talents of Nigel Hayes-Davis – who had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the Round 2 triumph – will be vital for a Fenerbahce team that will again have to subdue the threat of this season's leading scorer, Sasha Vezenkov, who scored 11 of his 18 points on Friday from the free throw line.