Bayern and Monaco both clinched postseason berths on Thursday
Game Center: Paris, Madrid, Virtus steal road wins; Efes, Fener triumph at home
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Friday, March 28
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 90-88 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Efes rallied from a double-digit third-quarter deficit to pull out a dramatic 90-88 win over Maccabi in Riga, Latvia. It’s the sixth straight win for Efes, which improved to 18-14 and is sure of playing postseason basketball once again this season. Maccabi, meanwhile, dropped to a 10-22 record. Bryant finished with 25 points, Dan Oturu had 15 points and Shane Larkin poured in 11, while Vincent Poirier scored all of his 10 points in the first quarter. Roman Sorkin paced Maccabi with 22 points, Jokubaitis had 19, and Jake Cohen and Levi Randolph scored 10 apiece in the loss.
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 82-77 Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Fenerbahce climbed to the top of the standings and clinched home-court advantage in the EuroLeague Playoffs by defeating Baskonia 82-77 at Ulker Sports And Event Hall on Friday evening. Fenerbahce improved its record to 22-10, overtaking Olympiacos Piraeus in the table due to its superior head-to-head advantage. Meanwhile, Baskonia suffered its second straight loss in Türkiye this week as it dropped to 13-19. Nigel Hayes-Davis led all scorers with 17 points and Wade Baldwin netted 11, while Devon Hall and Marko Guduric scored 10 each. Nikos Rogkavopoulos paced Baskonia with 14 points and Chima Moneke bagged 12, with Trent Forrest recording a double-double of 12 points and 12 assists.
ALBA Berlin 64-108 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Virtus bounced back from its biggest loss of the season with a resounding performance on Friday night as it thrashed ALBA 64-108 in the German capital. Virtus, which never trailed in this game, improved to 8-24, while ALBA dropped to a 5-26 record. Virtus had six double-digit scorers, with Achille Polonara scoring 16 points, Toko Shengelia 15 and Will Clyburn 14. Ante Zizic had 13 points, Alessandro Pajola paired 11 points with 8 assists, and Marco Belinelli netted 10 points in the win. Matt Thomas was the only ALBA scorer in double digits with 11 points.
Thursday, March 27
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 88-79 Zalgiris Kaunas
ASVEL completed a perfect double-round week by fighting off Zalgiris at home. After beating Olympiacos at home on Tuesday, ASVEL shot 44.4 percent on three-pointers and forced 20 Zalgiris turnovers as it improved to 13-19 on the season. Theo Maledon led the way with 19 points and 6 assists while Nando De Colo had 16 points. Zalgiris came into the game having lost at Monaco earlier in the week in overtime and now has dropped three straight games and four of the last five for a 14-18 record. Sylvain Francisco collected 19 points and 8 assists in defeat.
Olympiacos Piraeus 77-80 AS Monaco
Monaco secured a spot in the top 10 with a hard-fought road win at Olympiacos, condemning the Reds to a third straight loss. Monaco improved to 20-12 and will now target a top-six finish, while Olympiacos dropped to 22-10. Monaco controlled the opening stages but Olympiacos responded during a low-scoring second quarter to lead 37-35 at the halftime. The second half was tight until the visitors dominated the closing stages to seal a big win. Mike James guided Monaco with a double-double of 11 points and 12 assists, while Jaron Blossomgame top-scored with a career-high 18 points. Sasha Vezenkov paced Olympiacos with 21 points.
FC Bayern Munich 89-74 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade
Bayern punched its postseason ticket with two games to spare after improving to 19-13 with an impressive home win over Partizan on the back of a game-high 25 points from guard Carsen Edwards. Captain Vladimir Lucic and Andy Obst added 11 points apiece for Bayern, which rallied from a 42-44 halftime deficit to prevail thanks to an effervescent fourth quarter which the home team won 24-11. Carlik Jones paced Partizan with 19 points and 10 assists.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 88-98 FC Barcelona
Barcelona took another step toward reaching the postseason by downing Milan at Unipol Forum in Round 32. Barca improved to 18-14 in the standings while Milan dropped to 16-16 to remain one win behind the Play-In Showdown spots. Dario Brizuela led the winners with 27 points, which matched his career-high, and Kevin Punter added 25. Nikola Mirotic paced Milan with 28 points and 9 rebounds.