Roll call, Round 34 | EuroLeague

Papanikolaou shot with confidence in Piraeus

Kostas Papanikolaou was on fire for Olympiacos Piraeus in its 86-78 first-place clinching win over Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Making his 270th career start, Papanikolaou made the first 4 three-pointers he shot, before missing his last attempt in the fourth quarter. Olympiacos forward also made 1-of-2 two-point shots and finished the game with 16 points. Papanikolaou also pulled down 9 rebounds, tied for his season high. A timely effort, as it is the first time that Papanikolaou scored more than 10 points since Round 25.

Yabusele starred in Tel Aviv

Real Madrid came out on the wrong side of a 100-96 overtime decision against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, but Guerschon Yabusele had himself the best scoring night of his career. The French forward set a new career best with 25 points, tying his career high with 4 three-pointers made on 7 attempts. Playing a career-high 41:30 minutes, Yabusele also had 8 rebounds and 4 assists, accumulating a PIR of 29. Real might have come up just short against Maccabi, but this was second consecutive road game in which Yabusele has performed at this level. A good sign for Los Blancos heading into the upcoming playoffs.

Dobric scoring helped Zvezda sink Fenerbahce

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade finished the season on a five-game winning streak, and once again it was Ognjen Dobric who was instrumental in Zvezda's success. In a 91-89 overtime win against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, Dobric scored 22 points, 1 more than his previous career high. He played 31 minutes and made 6-of-9 two-pointers and 3-of-5 threes, while pulling down 3 rebounds. Dobric accumulated a season-high PIR of 19, helping Zvezda play role of a spoiler to perfection for the last time this season.

Olinde helped ALBA put away ASVEL

ALBA Berlin finished its EuroLeague season on a high with an 88-71 win over visiting LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Big man Louis Olinde was one of the main protagonists in ALBA's win, scoring a joint team-high 12 points and also pulling down 6 rebounds. Half of Olinde's points came in the fourth quarter, when he helped ALBA quickly double its 8-point lead en route to a victory. Olinde, who never made more than 4 two-point shots in a single game, was 6-of-8 on two-pointers in this one – and he reached that mark in less than 17 minutes on the floor.

Butkevicius made his impact felt against Bayern

Arnas Butkevicius's 4 points do not exactly stand out when taking a look at the box score of Zalgiris Kaunas's 80-83 win at FC Bayern Munich on Friday night, but he was key in his side booking its spot in the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs. Butkevicius didn’t attempt a shot from the field, instead going an ice-cool 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, yet he pulled down 9 rebounds, 3 on the offensive end and 6 under his basket, in addition to dishing 6 assists, making 1 steal and drawing 2 fouls. His Zalgiris teammates will get the plaudits, but Butkevicius did an excellent job of working in the shadows at Audi Dome on Friday night.

Makoundou showed what he can offer in loss at Efes

AS Monaco fell to an 87-72 defeat on the road at Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Round 34, yet there were some positive things to take away from the game for head coach Sasa Obradovic. The team from the principality, which came into Friday night's contest in the knowledge it had already locked up the fourth seed, decided to give some of its bench players a more prominent role against Efes, and one such player who benefitted was Yoan Makoundou. The 22-year-old center has played in just seven EuroLeague games, yet in Round 34 he set personal bests for points (16), rebounds (8) and PIR (19). Perhaps against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in the playoffs, this performance could see Makoundou earn himself more minutes on the court in this series.