### Semifinals in Berlin serve up thrillers

The Final Four was staged in Berlin at O2 World and both semifinals were thrillers. The action started with reigning champion CSKA Moscow overcoming Regal FC Barcelona 82-78 with the Spanish side leading for the first three quarters before Ramunas Siskauskas scored all the points in a 0-11 fourth-quarter run that sent CSKA in front for good.

The other semifinal was even closer as archrivals Olympiacos Piraeus and Panathinaikos Athens went head-to-head in the first derby at the Final Four this century. After an intense battle, Nikola Pekovic gave Panathinaikos the lead, 82-84, with a minute remaining. Olympiacos had two chances to force overtime at the final buzzer, but Ioannis Bourousis hit the rim and Josh Childress couldn't convert the tip-in, so the Greens advanced to another championship game.

### Last-second drama before Greens take title

The semifinals set the tone for the championship game, which was another closely contested battle concluding with on-the-buzzer drama. It didn't look that way in the first half, which was totally dominated by Panathinaikos as the Greens established a 48-28 lead at the break. But CSKA – appearing in its fourth consecutive championship game – rallied behind 11 third-quarter points from Trajan Langdon and continued its surge in the final stanza as Ramunas Siskauskas nailed a triple to make it 70-69 with 26 seconds remaining.

After a series of free throws, CSKA had one last possession and tried to win the game with a three-point attempt from Siskauskas, but his turnaround jumper hit the rim and Panathinaikos prevailed, 73-71. Vassilis Spanoulis was named Final Four MVP after scoring 18 points in the semifinal and 13 in the championship game.

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2008-09/panathinaikos-athens-cska-moscow/E2008/188/)

Final Four 2009 Berlin

### Maccabi, CSKA advance to championship game

The semifinals at the Community of Madrid Sports Palace in Madrid were truly exciting. In the first game, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Montepaschi Siena 85-92. Spirited play from Alex Garcia and team captain Derrick Sharp, who both scored season-highs off the bench, led an effort of 70 points from reserves. Garcia paced Maccabi with 19 points and Sharp scored 17. Terrell McIntyre led Montepaschi with 25 points in defeat.

In the other semifinal, CSKA edged Tau 79-83 to reach the championship game. Theo Papaloukas led a 0-10 run that gave CSKA the lead for good and Ramunas Siskauskas, that season’s EuroLeague MVP, iced the game from the foul line, finishing the night with 16 points as one of five CSKA scorers in double figures.

### CSKA lifts its 6th EuroLeague title

CSKA bested Maccabi 77-91 in the championship game to claim its sixth EuroLeague title. A 0-10 run in the fourth quarter sealed the outcome. Trajan Langdon shined with 21 points, 7 rebounds and a PIR of 33 to earn 2008 Final Four MVP honors. Head coach Ettore Messina won his fourth EuroLeague title and second with a CSKA team that allowed the fewest points (67.6 ppg.) in the league that season.

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2007-08/maccabi-elite-tel-aviv-cska-moscow/E2007/231/)

Final Four 2008 Madrid

### CSKA, Panathinaikos shine on defense in semis

Defense was the name of the game on semifinal Friday at OAKA in the Greek capital. CSKA Moscow held Unicaja Malaga to just 50 points in the early game, in which Theo Papaloukas shined with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. The game was tied at 44-44 through three quarters before CSKA pulled away to win 62-50.

Then Panathinaikos Athens bested Tau Ceramica Baskonia 67-53 led by Mike Batiste's 15 points and 12 rebounds. Sani Becirovic also scored 15 for the winners. Panathinaikos led from start to finish to the delight of thousands of Greens’ fans in the sold-out stands as Panathinaikos returned to the EuroLeague final for the first time since winning the 2002 title in Bologna, Italy.

### Greens crown themselves at home

Panathinaikos held off a late CSKA rally to win 93-91 in Sunday’s championship game. Final Four MVP Dimitris Diamantidis was one of six Panathinaikos players to score in double digits with 15 points. Ramunas Siskauskas shined with 20 points and 5 assists and Dejan Tomasevic added 16 points in a victory.

The title was the sixth of his career – and third with Panathinaikos – for Coach Zeljko Obradovic, who was also chosen as that season's Euroleague Basketball Alexander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year. The Greens were a deep and balanced team in which 13 players started at least once in the EuroLeague and eight players averaged at least 7.5 points per game. Veteran Fragiskos Alvertis won his fifth EuroLeague crown.

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2006-07/panathinaikos-athens-cska-moscow/E2006/230/)

Final Four 2007 Athens

### Maccabi advances to third straight championship game

The 2006 Final Four was the first one played in a city without a EuroLeague team, Prague in the Czech Republic. The Final Four opened with a rematch of the previous season's championship game between Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv and Tau Ceramica in the first semifinal. Maceo Baston scored 20 points and set a Final-Four record with 6 blocked shots to lead Maccabi to an 85-70 victory and its third straight championship game. EuroLeague MVP Anthony Parker scored 19 points for the winners.

The second semifinal also featured a dominant effort by a power forward; Matjaz Smodis posted 17 points and 12 rebounds as CSKA Moscow outlasted FC Barcelona 75-84. Theo Papaloukas and J.R. Holden led the winners each with 19 points each, helping CSKA to win the game and end a string of three semifinals losses in a row since 2003. Shammond Williams led Barcelona with 24 points.

### CSKA ends title drought

The highly-anticipated championship-game showdown saw CSKA Moscow survive 73-69 over two-time defending champ Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv at Sazka Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. It was CSKA's first EuroLeague crown in 35 years and fifth overall.

Theodoros Papaloukas scored 18 points and dished 7 assists to lead the winners and earn Final Four MVP honors. David Vanterpool added 16 points while Matjaz Smodis had 12 for CSKA led by Coach Ettore Messina, who won the EuroLeague title in his first year with the club, after having won twice with Virtus Bologna. Messina molded the team into an elite defensive unit that won 13 of its final games of the season.

Will Solomon had 20 points for Maccabi, which lost the chance to become the third team in Euroleague history to win three straight titles, a feat that still belongs only to ASK Riga and Jugoplastika Split.

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2005-06/cska-moscow-maccabi-elite-tel-aviv/E2005/231/)

Final Four 2006 Prague

### Tau stuns host CSKA in semis

The 2005 Final Four was held in the Russian capital and CSKA Moscow put together a super team with the sole aim of celebrating in front of its fans in May. As a result, CSKA steamrolled the competition for a perfect record in the 14-game regular season, finished the Top 16 with 5-1 record and swept its best-of-three playoff series against Ulker. However, the season-long collision course that Maccabi Tel Aviv and CSKA were on was derailed by Tau Ceramica, which stunned CSKA 78-85 in the second semifinal at Olympiysky Arena. Arvydas Macijauskas led the winners with 23 points, including a shot-clock beating three-pointer that sealed the outcome down the stretch. Maccabi held up its end when Derrick Sharp came off the bench to lead six Maccabi scorers in double figures with 20 points in a 91-82 victory over Panathinaikos Athens.

### Maccabi goes back-to-back

In May 2005, Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv wrote a brilliant new page in European basketball history by defeating Tau Ceramica 90-78 in the championship game in front of a sellout crowd of 13,500 at Olympiyski Arena in Moscow. Sarunas Jasikevicius dominated with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists to earn Final Four MVP honors. Maccabi led 62-60 late in the third quarter when Jasikevicius led a 7-0 run that put the Israeli champs in control for good. Maceo Baston added 18 points, Nestoras Kommatos scored 13 points off the bench and Nikola Vujcic had 13 points plus 7 assists as Maccabi became the first team since Split in 1991 to repeat as EuroLeague champion.

In the third-place game, Panathinaikos mounted one of the biggest comebacks in Final Four history by rallying from a 22-point deficit to edge CSKA Moscow 91-94 in double overtime, as Mike Batiste scored 28 points.

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2004-05/maccabi-elite-tel-aviv-tau-ceramica-vitoria-gasteiz/E2004/229/)

Final Four 2005 Moscow

### Skipper, Maccabi prevail over semifinals challengers

Skipper Bologna needed overtime before getting past Italian League rival Montepaschi Siena in the first semifinal in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was a cat-and-mouse game for much of regulation, with Bologna leading by 9 at halftime and 13 at one point in the third quarter, but Montepaschi always came back and eventually forced overtime on Michailis Kakiouzis’s three-pointer with 11.2 seconds to go. Carlos Delfino's free throw with 11.6 seconds left in overtime broke a tie and crowned him the hero. Delfino finished with 27 points, one of six Skipper scorers in double figures.

Host Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv outlasted CSKA Moscow 93-85 in the nightcap. Maccabi started sluggishly and trailed by 11 points at one point, but turned it around to get within 1 at halftime and pull away in the second half as the fans in yellow rocked on. Anthony Parker shined with 27 points, while Sarunas Jasikevicius tallied 18 points and 6 assists. Marcus Brown had 23 points and 6 assists in the loss.

### Maccabi shatters records in claiming the crown

One of the EuroLeague's greatest offenses was on full display in the 2004 championship game in Tel Aviv, Israel, where host Maccabi produced a record-setting spectacle in routing Skipper Bologna 118-74. From the opening tip, Maccabi ruled its home floor at Nokia Arena, soaring to a 25-point halftime lead and never looking back. It marked the fourth time that Maccabi lifted a cup as a continental champion and, in winning this crown, Maccabi set or tied 11 records, including the most points scored in a EuroLeague championship game, best shooting and largest margin of victory.

Anthony Parker was named Final Four MVP after an almost flawless night scoring 21 points and missing only 2 shots from the field. David Bluthenthal netted 20 in just 16 minutes, Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 18 points in 17 minutes, and Tal Burstein shined with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2003-04/maccabi-elite-tel-aviv-skipper-fortitudo-bologna/E2003/220/)

Final Four 2004 Tel Aviv

### Montepaschi, Barcelona triumph in semis

Montepaschi Siena and Benetton Treviso faced each other in an all-Italian semifinal at Palau Sant Jordi, in which Manuchar Markoishvili became the still-youngest player ever to appear in a Final Four, at 16 years, 5 months and 21 days old. It all came down to the final minute, in which Vrbica Stefanovic gave Montepaschi a 62-60 lead. Massimo Bulleri put Benetton ahead with a three-pointer and soon added free throws to complete the final score, 62-65. Jorge Garbajosa led Benetton with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

In the second semifinal, FC Barcelona topped CSKA Moscow 76-71. In a close affair, Juan Carlos Navarro provided the biggest highlight of the game with a fastbreak layup off a steal that sealed the outcome with 22 seconds to go. Barcelona won behind 21 points from Gregor Fucka and 17 from Dejan Bodiroga, who made clutch free throws in the closing seconds to send the home fans into ecstasy.

### Barca breaks through for first title

FC Barcelona won its first-ever EuroLeague title after defeating Benetton Treviso 76-65 in the championship game at Palau Sant Jordi, almost 20 years after the first of five previous losing attempts in the title-decider. A trio of three-pointers midway through the final quarter - from Sarunas Jasikevicius, Juan Carlos Navarro and Dejan Bodiroga - broke open a 3-point game to give Barca an 11-point lead with 90 seconds left. Bodiroga had 20 points and became the first player to get back-to-back Final Four MVP awards with different teams. Gregor Fucka added 17 points. Tyus Edney led Benetton with 16. Barcelona head coach Svetislav Pesic became the third person to win the EuroLeague as player and coach, after Armenak Alachachan and Lolo Sainz.

"The semis and the final, with 16,000 fans or more, it was a demonstration of great organization and the beautiful event that is the Final Four," MVP Bodiroga said. "To win it is a precious thing, a title with weight behind it."

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2002-03/fc-barcelona-benetton-treviso/E2002/220/)

Final Four 2003 Barcelona

### Panathinaikos, Kinder outlast rivals in semis

In the first EuroLeague Final Four this century in Bologna, Italy, Panathinaikos Athens and Kinder Bologna earned the right to play in the championship game after semifinals victories. Panathinaikos defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv in the first game 83-75. The Greens rode the hot hand of Dejan Bodiroga, who gave Panathinaikos control of a back-and-forth battle early in the fourth quarter and finished with 27 points and 9 rebounds. Big men Darryl Middleton and Lazaros Papadopoulos combined for 24 points, while Maccabi's top scorer was Tal Burstein with 16 points off the bench.

Defending champion Kinder advanced to the title game after holding off Italian League rival Benetton Treviso 82-90 at home at PalaMalaguti. Kinder used a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter and snap a 63-63 tie. Marko Jaric paced the winners with 18 points, David Andersen added 15 points and Manu Ginobili and Sani Becirovic scored 14 each. Tyus Edney and Charlie Bell paced Benetton with 19 points apiece.

### Bodiroga, Kutluay lead Greens to glory

Panathinaikos became the first - and to date only – team to win a EuroLeague championship game on its opponents' home floor when it erased a 14-point second-quarter deficit to beat Kinder Bologna 83-89. After a second-quarter burst that gave rise to euphoria among the Kinder fans, Panathinaikos worked its way back into the game. Center Lazaros Papadopoulos was the catalyst of the comeback, but in the second half veterans Dejan Bodiroga and Ibrahim Kutluay took over. Kutluay scored 22 points for Panathinaikos, while Bodiroga, voted Final Four MVP, had 21 and Papadopoulos 12 points in victory. For Kinder, Manu Ginobili netted 27 and Matjaz Smodis had 13 points.

### [Game Info](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2001-02/kinder-virtus-bologna-panathinaikos-athens/E2001/275/)

"Let me tell you that it wasn't easy to beat Kinder at home, and they have a great coach in Messina who has done impressive things this season and will continue to do so in the future," a prophetic Panathinaikos coach Zeljko Obradovic said after the championship game. "After winning my first Final Four with Partizan in 1992, my mentor, Aco Nikolic, told me, 'This will be the first you will win of many.' And all I thought was 'this guy is crazy!' I thought that that could not be repeated, but he was right. Nikolic is always right."

Final Four 2002 Bologna

 Final Four + Kaunas = Hoops Heaven 

The best weekend in world basketball comes to the country where the sport is known as a second religion when the [Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/final-four/) lands in Kaunas, Lithuania, from May 18 to 21. The most intense and competitive season imaginable will reach a crescendo over four action-packed days with a city devoted to basketball throwing a party for global visitors and a worldwide audience. The fun in the streets will only be matched by the passion inside the gleaming Zalgirio Arena. For basketball lovers, it will be nothing short of hoops heaven.