Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv cruised to an 85-66 home rout of EA Emporio Armani Milan on the back of a cohesive team effort that saw the hosts flourish in assists and rebounds, the same departments which saw them vanquish Virtus Segafredo Bologna 111-80 earlier this week.

Assists and rebounds epitomized Maccabi’s team spirit

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv cruised to an 85-66 home rout of EA Emporio Armani Milan on the back of a cohesive team effort that saw the hosts flourish in assists and rebounds, the same departments which saw them vanquish Virtus Segafredo Bologna 111-80 earlier this week.

Having produced a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague record of 38 assists against reigning champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Maccabi completed a perfect Italian job as it dished out 21 assists against Milan and contained the visitors to just 13, with the rivals committing 7 turnovers each.

Maccabi also racked up 10 boards more than Milan (37-27) and shot 25 of 36 from two-point territory, while the visiting team made 12 of 23.

Crucially, Maccabi was more resourceful as Roman Sorkin (18 points) turned out to be the trump card, with Lorenzo Brown (17 points, 8 assists) and Wade Baldwin (15 points, 6 assists) doing their part to great effect.

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What hurt Milan the most is that four other Maccabi players netted 8 points each, while Shabazz Napier (15 points) and Shavon Shields (14 points, 5 rebounds) cut lonesome figures in Milan’s effort to keep alive its postseason hopes.

The other key players misfired as Nicolo Melli, Billy Baron and Brandon Davies scored 10 points between them, with Milan head coach Ettore Messina offering a realistic assessment of the night’s action.

"In the first half, we didn't have the level of competitiveness that was required," Messina said at the post-game press conference. “Second half, we found our old chemistry and good defense. Two moments decided the game – first when we missed a pair of completely open threes when we were down by 6 and had momentum. The second was when were down by 10 and missed 4 free throws. Maccabi has remarkable athleticism and that can make a lot of difference in the EuroLeague. On top of a good system, they have guards who can create at any moment."

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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (2023-03-30T18:05:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona cruised to a 72-56 home victory over ALBA Berlin in Round 32 to secure home-court advantage for the playoffs. Its team depth was critical, as new players stepped up in this important game.

Kyle Kuric did not step on the court against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in Round 32. In that game, Nikola Kalinic and Sertac Sanli combined for 6 points in their team's 80-89 road victory. Kuric started against ALBA and scored 5 of his 7 points early in the second half, when Barca struggled to score. 

"Kyle \[Kuric\] showed today that he is ready to get on the court at any time and give a good performance," Barca coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said after the game. "He is practicing well, with a good attitude. It is not easy for a player who doesn't play, but there is no other way. You have to be ready, this is it."

Kyle Kuric, Sertac Sanli and Nikola Kalinic combined for 29 points in FC Barcelona's 72-56 home win against ALBA Berlin in Round 32.

Kuric, Sanli, Kalinic step up in Round 32

Sertac Sanli led Barca with 12 points and Kalinic added 10. Both players combined for 11 rebounds and a PIR of 27. When ALBA got within 43-42, Kalinic and Sanli made the difference. They combined for 17 points in a 19-3 run that broke the game open. Kalinic scored all of his 10 points in that run. Both went from playing a minor role in Round 31 to arguably be the best players on the floor in Round 32 and that, of course, is good news for Barca.

Coach 'Saras' praised Sanli after the game. 

"Sertac knows what the coach asks for and what the systems need. He is always there, very solid. Then the difference for many of you is if he scores the ball or not. Not for us, because our opponents are not silly and will not let him shoot. Lately, the difference is that he is hitting some more shots and everything looks nicer, but basketball is way more than scoring the ball or not," he said. "He gives us different things than Jan \[Vesely\], Mike \[Tobey\] and James \[Nnaji\]. We are very happy with him."

Barca's Kuric, Sanli were ready when needed against ALBA

FC Barcelona v ALBA Berlin (2023-03-30T18:30:00.000Z)

victory over Virtus Segafredo Bologna at Sinan Erden Sports Hall on Thursday night. 

Zizic boosted Efes's key runs

Ante Zizic became an unstoppable weapon for Anadolu Efes Istanbul on its way to a 19-point victory over Virtus Segafredo Bologna at Sinan Erden Sports Hall on Thursday night. The Croatian center not only finished as the game's top-scorer with 24 points -tying his career best- in only 17:51, but also provided Efes with the boost it needed in key moments of the game.

Zizic didn’t start, but when he took the floor, he had an immediate impact. He scored his first bucket late in the first period and collected 8 more points in a 13-2 spark early in the second to help Efes amass a double-digit lead for the first time in the game, 26-15. 

He remained under the radar in the third, but showed up again when Virtus threatened to come back to lead a 9-2 run that established a 60-38 entering the last stanza. And finally, when the visitors found Niccolo Mannion and Marco Belinelli on the perimeter, Zizic took over again to score 8 points in a row that definitely put the game to bed, 76-50, with 4 minutes to play.

"Twenty-four \[points\] seems nice, but tonight we did a great team effort. First half, second half, we stuck with the plan, we are on a mission”, he said after the game. "We are trying to win every single game and tonight it just broke out great. I started very good and my teammates and the coaching staff just saw that and they just kept up running plays for me."

Anadolu Efes Istanbul v Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2023-03-30T17:30:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona had to battle hard to overcome a halftime deficit and beat ALBA Berlin 72-56 in Round 32. With this victory, Barca secured the home-court advantage for the playoffs.

It was not a good shooting day for Barca, but it managed to protect the paint well. ALBA made just 12 of 36 two-point shots in this game. Its 33.3% two-point shooting percentage was the club's season-low and the fourth-lowest mark in the EuroLeague this season. ALBA made only 5 of 19 two-pointers (26.3% 2FG) after the break. On the other hand, Barca sank 24 of 48 two-pointers (50% 2FG), not great, but more than enough to win the game.

The hosts did a great job at cutting down on turnovers, finishing the game with just 7, which matched a season-low. It previously had 7 turnovers in a 93-74 home victory against Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 26. Barca finished the game with 19 assists, which means it dished 2.71 assists per turnover. ALBA had more turnovers (17) than assists (15). Rokas Jokubaitis circulated the ball better than anyone else with 5 assists and no turnovers.

Barca protected the paint, limited mistakes

in the second half, the home team was much better, making 6 threes on only 10 attempts (60%). 

 Efes upped its offensive game in the second half to beat Virtus

Anadolu Efes Istanbul had no room for mistakes coming to the game against Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Round 32. Efes needed to win to keep its chances alive for a ticket to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs and it grabbed it thanks to a major improvement in the second half, mainly offensively.

"We missed a lot of three-point shots in the first half," said head coach Ergin Ataman at halftime. "We need to take shots with more confidence."

And that’s what his team did.

Efes finished the first two periods with a below-average percentage from deep (18.7%), after making just 3 out of 16 attempts. But in the second half, the home team was much better, making 6 threes on only 10 attempts (60%). Its offensive improvement was also confirmed by how it moved the ball, as Efes registered 18 dishes in the last 20 minutes, going for 15-of-18 (83.3%) on two-point shooting. 

"All game we made excellent defense, aggressive defense, and in offense, we shared the ball, we played the running game," Ataman stressed in the press conference. "But in the first half, we missed shots, open shots, and that’s the reason we found the break. In the second half, when we started to make shots coming from good plays, with a great sense of sharing the ball and we made those shots, we got a big difference."

Barca clinches home-court advantage, 72-56

FC Barcelona clinched home-court advantage for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs by downing ALBA Berlin 72-56 in Round 32 at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday. Barca improved to 22-10 after recording its fourth consecutive victory. It is also on a six-game home winning streak. ALBA dropped to 9-23 and has been out of the playoffs race for several rounds already.

Sertac Sanli paced the winners with 12 points off the bench. Nikola Mirotic added 11 while Nikola Kalinic had 10 for Barca, which committed only 7 turnovers and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds. Yanni Wetzell led the way for ALBA with 9 points.

Jan Vesely, Mirotic and Kyle Kuric each buried a jumper in a 6-0 run that gave Barca an early 10-5 lead. Tomas Satoransky's three-point play soon boosted his team's margin to 15-9. Johannes Thiemann and Jaleen Smith rescued ALBA and when Ben Lammers added a three-pointer and a couple of layup, the visitors were in charge, 19-21, after 10 minutes. 

Yovel Zoosman and Malte Delow each hit a triple to cause Barca to call timeout at 21-27. Sertac Sanli and Mirotic stepped up for the hosts and Nico Laprovittola's consecutive layups put Barca ahead, 34-33. Delow hit a wild buzzer-beating jumper for a 34-35 ALBA edge at the break.

Kuric buried a three-pointer soon after the break and followed Mirotic's layup with a jumper for a 41-39 Barca lead. Nikola Kalinic took over with a three-point play and got help from Rokas Jokubaitis and Sanli to establish a 50-42 Barca lead after 30 minutes. 

Kalinic followed a layup with a triple, and an unstoppable Sanli boosted the hosts' margin to 60-45 with over 7 minutes left. LIttle changed after that as Barca kept a double-digit margin all the way until the final buzzer, cruising to an important win.

Barca tops ALBA, 72-56, to clinch home-court advantage

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv took a huge step towards securing a postseason berth after an 85-66 home win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Thursday propelled it to a 19-13 record with two games remaining. 

Maccabi on the verge of playoffs after beating Milan, 85-66

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv took a huge step towards securing a postseason berth after an 85-66 home win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Thursday propelled it to a 19-13 record with two games remaining. Maccabi could seal a playoff spot as early as Friday, as it needs just one of three results to go its way to finish in the top eight. In contrast, Milan (14-18) has been eliminated after a second successive defeat this week, having also suffered an 89-69 reverse at Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Tuesday.

Forward Roman Sorkin capped a big week with a stellar first-half performance for Maccabi, having paced the hosts with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor. Sorkin nailed 16 points in the opening two quarters and playmaker Lorenzo Brown finished with 17 points and 8 assists. Wade Baldwin had 15 points and 6 assists for Maccabi, which fended off a third-quarter fightback from Milan to come out on top. At the other end, Shabazz Napier paced Milan on 15 points and Shavon Shields added 14, but the duo lacked support as the other key players failed to step up to the plate in a crunch game for the visitors.

Like it so often does on its home court, Maccabi got off to a flying start and carved out a 10-point lead early on (23-13) thanks to Sorkin, who tormented Milan’s defense in different ways. A pair of slam dunks, a three-pointer and some incisive execution in the paint by the forward galvanized Maccabi, with Milan’s defense in tatters throughout the first half. The visitors had no reply for Milan’s quick transition of the ball while they were reduced to one-on-one plays at the other end, as Maccabi’s aggressive half-court pressure gave Ettore Messina’s men preciously little room to operate.

It was all too obvious that Milan faced a mammoth task in the second half after Maccabi took a 53-36 halftime lead, but the visiting team roared back in the third quarter and cut the gap to just 60-54 on the back of an 18-7 run, with the hosts beginning to struggle on offense.

However, the fightback was short-lived as Maccabi regained its momentum late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, having taken a decisive 71-60 lead with 6:45 minutes left on the clock. The advantage soon soared to 78-62 and there was no way back for Milan, which now has only pride to play for in the last two regular-season games.

Maccabi’s players and staff are likely to be glued to their TV sets on Friday and keenly follow the action elsewhere to find out if they’ve done enough to qualify for the playoffs. But even if it doesn’t happen on the back of other results going their way, they still have every chance of sealing a playoff berth in their last two games, against Zalgiris Kaunas on the road and Real Madrid at home.

Coach Jasikevicius, Barca: We dug deeper'

### FC Barcelona head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius:

"Congratulations to our players, congratulations to our fans. I thought it was a great win after Belgrade and a double week in the EuroLeague, it was a very difficult game. ALBA came with a lot of motivation, a lot of speed, a lot of ball movement, and we were not able to stop them in the first half. And then I thought the guys really dug deeper. I thought we found a lot of solutions, and we have to be happy for a lot of players today. It is a very long season and we look for goals, and it is important to achieve this one \[home-court advantage\]. Clearly, this doesn't guarantee anything but is a little bit better. We have guaranteed to play one more game at home if we have to get to that moment \[Game 5\]. It's good."

### ALBA Berlin head coach Israel Gonzalez:

"I think we had a good game, generally speaking, competing against a great team. Congratulations to Barca. We were trying to compete against them but in the end of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter, we couldn't match their energy to find a way to score, because they improved their defense very well and for us, it was difficult. But I think we are in a good line, doing good things, and I hope these games in the EuroLeague helped us improve at the end of the season in our domestic league. Barca is a great team with physicality and talent and a good coach. The key is to arrive well to the playoffs and compete well."

### FC Barcelona center Sertac Sanli:

"In the first half, we played basketball with ALBA and played their basketball. In the second half, it completely changed: we played our basketball, showed our character, our team basketball, and won easily. But it is really tough, if you play against ALBA, with them, it is a very dangerous team. They beat Efes last week and I am happy that we cleared this victory.

"I am trying to help my team, and the game was coming to me today. I made the shots and tried to help my teammates, so that it was good. Today it was me, next week is a different player. It doesn't matter, we are playing team basketball and everybody is happy right now. I am happy for the win, that's all."

### FC Barcelona forward Nikola Mirotic:

"It was a great performance by our team, especially this second half, especially on defense. We stepped up. We knew we needed to slow down ALBA because they played great basketball, especially offensively, and I am happy with how we approached especially this second half of the game. It is an important win at home after a couple of tough wins away. It was important to win at home, with these fans."

Coach Jasikevicius, Barca: 'We dug deeper'

Coach Kattash, Maccabi: 'I am very happy for the crowd'

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

"Two wins in a tough week, as there’s never a lazy week in the EuroLeague. In the first half, we controlled the tempo of the game, in the second half, it was their tempo, especially in the third quarter. We struggled offensively but then we found our rhythm again and I am very happy for the players, the club and the fans."

### EA7 Emporio Armani Milan head coach Ettore Messina:

"Congratulations to coach Oded Kattash and Maccabi, they played a very good game. In the first half, we did not have the level of competitiveness that was required. Second half, we found our old chemistry and good defense. Two moments decided the game – first when we missed a pair of completely open threes when we were down by 6 and had momentum. The second was when we were down by 10 and missed 4 free throws. Maccabi has remarkable athleticism and that can make a lot of difference in the EuroLeague. On top of a good system, they have guards who can create at any moment. That’s very important in the playoffs and the title game. They are a great organization and I wish them the best."

### Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv guard Lorenzo Brown:

"It’s a lot of hard work. We’ve got to come here every day to stand prepared and stand ready... I wouldn’t say the best team as we need to win the championship to be the best. We’ve got a lot more work to do."

### Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv center Roman Sorkin:

"It’s a big win for us. We’ve been fighting all season with a new team and things started coming together for us. What makes this place so special is the fans. They are part of us and give us the energy, they are the best fans in the EuroLeague and probably the world."