With six games taking place on Tuesday and three on Wednesday, how will the playoff picture look after Round 31?
Game Center: PAO rallies past Maccabi; Efes, Zvezda roll at home
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Wednesday, March 26
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 92-76 Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
Efes cemented its place among the postseason contenders as it blasted Baskonia at Basketball Development Center in Istanbul for its fifth consecutive win. The victory lifted Efes's record to 17-14, which brings it within one win of sixth place. Baskonia fell to 13-18 and was formally eliminated from postseason contention. Efes's guards led the way as Rodrigue Beaubois poured in 18 points, Shane Larkin netted 16 and Elijah Bryant paired 11 points with 8 assists. Trent Forrest paced Baskonia with 17 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade 88-52 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Zvezda took a step closer to a playoff berth as it improved to 18-13 with an impressive home win over Virtus, which dropped to 7-24 after a ninth successive defeat. Dejan Davidovac paced Zvezda’s relentless pack with 17 points, Filip Petrusev added 16 and Codi Miller-McIntyre chipped in with 11 as dominant Zvezda racked up 42 boards, 28 assists and 7 steals in a high-octane display. At the other end, Tornike Shengelia netted 13 points. The result was Zvezda’s biggest-ever margin of victory, while it also marked the lowest scoring tally for Virtus.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 92-99 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Panathinaikos rallied from 15 points down to defeat Maccabi at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. The Israeli champs led 82-67 with 8 minutes left on the clock, but the Greens went on a 0-18 surge to turn the game around. Panathinaikos improved its record to 20-11 and clinched a top-10 spot, securing its place in the postseason. Maccabi saw its four-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 10-21. Kendrick Nunn led all scorers with 26 points and Juancho Hernangomez netted 18 – of which 16 were scored in the second half. Levi Randolph paced Maccabi with 21 points.
Tuesday, March 25
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 101-100 Paris Basketball
Fenerbahce wrapped up its place in the EuroLeague Playoffs in style by beating Paris 101-100 on a game-winning three-pointer by Nigel Hayes-Davis. Paris star TJ Shorts looked as though he had given his side the victory when he scored a layup with two seconds remaining to set a 98-100 score, but Hayes-Davis caused the roof to come off Ulker Sport and Event Hall with his triple.
Marko Guduric led Fenerbahce in scoring with 25 points. Hayes-Davis ended the night with 19 points, with Errick McCollum pouring in 18 and Tarik Biberovic adding 14. Paris, which could only suit 10 players due to its injury crisis, had Shorts and Nadir Hifi both net 19 points, while Mikael Jantunen had 14, Yakuba Ouattara 13, Kevarrius Hayes 12, and Sebastian Herrera 11.
AS Monaco 96-86 Zalgiris Kaunas
Monaco clinched a hard-fought overtime victory over Zalgiris to improve its record to 19-12 and remain among the top four teams after 31 rounds. The hosts had to overcome a second-quarter 14-point deficit and trailed 65-72 midway through the last period, but a strong late reaction led by Mike James forced overtime, 80-80. James and Elie Okobo combined for 10 points early in overtime to decide the game as Zalgiris ran out of energy. Zalgiris slipped to 14-17. James led all scorers with 22 points and Okobo followed with 21. Sylvain Francisco paced Zalgiris with 19 points but missed the winning shot in regulation.
FC Barcelona 101-102 FC Bayern Munich
Bayern grabbed a key road victory in its fight for the playoffs as it rallied to beat Barcelona. In a battle of teams tied in the standings going into the game, Bayern trailed by 8 points with 3 minutes left but its much-maligned defense held on in a 2-11 run to close the game - winning on Vladimir Lucic’s free throws with 17 seconds left. The last of 23 lead changes decided the game and gave Bayern an 18-13 record including a season sweep of Barcelona. Carsen Edwards scored 23 points with 5 assists while Elias Harris had 17 points to lead Bayern. Jabari Parker paced Barcelona with 23 points.
Real Madrid 96-89 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Real Madrid managed to defeat Milan 96-89 in a game it never trailed in, but there will be a sense of frustration for coach Chus Mateo and his men after failing to secure the tiebreaker, having lost by nine points in Italy earlier this season. As such, in the event that Real Madrid and Milan finish the season with the same regular-season record, it will be coach Ettore Messina’s squad that has the advantage. Both sides came into this contest with a 16-14 record, but Los Blancos have improved to 17-14 while Milan drops to 16-15. Dzanan Musa scored 21 points for Real Madrid, which also had Walter Tavares (19 points), Usman Garuba (11) and Facu Campazzo (11) net in double figures. Zach LeDay was Milan’s leading scorer with 15 points, followed by Nikola Mirotic with 14, and Shavon Shields and Fabien Causeur with 13 apiece.
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 85-71 ALBA Berlin
Partizan bounced back from three successive defeats with a home win over ALBA to stay in contention for a top 10 finish. Brandon Davies paced Partizan on 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor, while Carlik Jones followed with 15 points and 9 assists. Isaac Bonga chipped in with 14 points and 6 boards for the hosts, who improved to 16-15. At the other end, Matt Thomas led ALBA with 16 points.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 81-70 Olympiacos Piraeus
ASVEL ended its seven-game losing slide by beating league-leader Olympiacos at LDLC Arena. The hosts’ defense held the Reds to a season-low 70 points, with guards Theo Maledon and Nando De Colo leading the charge on the other end. ASVEL improved its record to 12-19, while Olympiacos registered its second loss in a row and dropped to 22-9. Maledon paced ASVEL with 23 points and De Colo netted 18, of which 10 came in the last 4 minutes. For Olympiacos, Evan Fournier and Sasha Vezenkov scored 25 points each.