With the playoff race starting to take shape, how will things look after Round 30?
Game Center: Efes blows out Partizan by 32 points; PAO, Barça grab victories
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Friday, March 21, 2025
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens 91-81 ALBA Berlin
Panathinaikos bounced back from its defeat in the Greek derby with a hard-fought 91-81 win over the visiting ALBA at OAKA on Friday night. The Greens led by double digits at halftime, 46-35, but a strong run early in the fourth period boosted ALBA to a 69-77 advantage with just 6 minutes remaining. The Greens didn’t step back, though, as Jerian Grant and Lorenzo Brown sparked a 21-0 run to inspire the comeback and seal the victory. Panathinaikos, which improved to 19-11, was led by Grant, who scored 19 points on 10-of-10 free throws. Kendrick Nunn followed with 18 and Wenyen Gabriel and Brown had 13 apiece for the winners. Matt Thomas paced ALBA with 14 points, Gabriele Procida chipped in 13 and Yanni Wetzell netted 11 for the visitors, which slipped to 5-25.
FC Barcelona 82-70 Zalgiris Kaunas
Barcelona continued its climb up the standings by downing the visiting Zalgiris 82-70 on Friday night. It was Barcelona’s third consecutive win, which improved it to a 17-13 record, tied for the fifth best in the league. Zalgiris, meanwhile, dropped to 14-16 on the season. Barcelona grabbed the lead for good in the second quarter and extended it to double digits late in the third, then never allowed the visitors to get close again. Dario Brizuela led the way with 20 points. Justin Anderson had 16 points, Kevin Punter netted 14 and Chimezie Metu finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds in the win. Three Zalgiris players scored 13 points: Sylvain Francisco, Ignas Brazdeikis and Deividas Sirvydis.
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 65-97 Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Efes boosted its hopes of making the EuroLeague postseason with a crushing 65-97 road win over Partizan. Luca Banchi's men improved to 16-14, while Zeljko Obradovic's squad dropped to 15-15 after a third successive defeat. Darius Thompson paced Efes on 19 points and Elijah Bryant added 18 for the visitors, who shot an impressive 25 of 33 (75.8 percent) from inside and 11 of 24 from downtown. Former Partizan player PJ Dozier chipped in with 13 points, Shane Larkin added 11 and Dan Oturu netted 10 for the visiting team. Tyrique Jones, Frank Ntilikina and Isaac Bonga scored 11 points each for a disjointed Partizan, which has seriously derailed its postseason hopes after its heaviest home defeat in EuroLeague history, surpassing its 31-point loss to CSKA Moscow (55-86) in 2007.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Olympiacos Piraeus 73-81 Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade
Crvena Zvezda put an end to its three-game losing slide by defeating Olympiacos at Peace and Friendship Stadium. The visitors shared the ball well on offense and looked solid on the other end, leading from start to finish to get back to winning ways. Zvezda improved its record to 17-13, while Olympiacos remains atop the table despite dropping to 22-8. Rokas Giedraitis led all scorers with 20 points, having gone 6-for-7 from deep, and Codi Miller-McIntyre recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Sasha Vezenkov paced Olympiacos with 19 points.
AS Monaco 91-82 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
Monaco improved to 18-12 and boosted its hopes of a top-four finish after an impressive home win over Fenerbahce on the back of a season-high 29 points from pack leader Mike James. Elie Okobo chipped in with 16 points and Daniel Theis racked up 15 points and 7 boards for the home team, which prevailed despite losing the battle of the boards 32-41 as it forced 17 turnovers from Fenerbahce. The visitors, who only managed 12 assists, were paced by Errick McCollum on 24 points. The result also means that Fenerbahce dropped to 20-10 and still has work to do to secure an automatic playoff spot.
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 77-67 Virtus Segafredo
Maccabi now has the longest active winning streak in the EuroLeague after beating Virtus for its fourth straight victory. With Crvena Zvezda snapping table-topper Olympiacos's six-game roll, Maccabi is now the hottest team though the Israeli champion has already been eliminated from postseason contention with a 10-20 record. Maccabi took control of the game with a 32-8 run spanning the middle two quarters. Rokas Jokubaitis led the way with 19 points and Jimmy Clark scored 14. Virtus suffered an eighth straight loss for a 7-23 record. Achille Polonara was Virtus’s leading scorer with 15 points.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 112-89 FC Bayern Munich
Baskonia produced an offensive whirlwind to thrash Bayern and keep the Spanish team’s top 10 hopes alive. Baskonia improved to 13-17, while Bayern dropped to 17-13. Baskonia led for most of a high-scoring first half, which ended 50-48, and accelerated its scoring pace after the break to seal a big win. Markus Howard led the way with 27 points, as Trent Forrest recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists. 12. Shabazz Napier paced Bayern with 15 points.
Real Madrid 81-70 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
Real Madrid grabbed its third consecutive home victory by downing ASVEL in the Spanish capital. Real improved to 16-14 in the standings while ASVEL dropped to 11-19 with its seventh straight loss. Walter Tavares led the winners with 23 points. Sergio Llull added 12 while Dzanan Musa had 10 for Real. Theo Maledon paced ASVEL with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Paris Less added 15 points for the visitors.
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Paris Basketball 92-79 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Paris downed Milan 92-79 in Round 30 to grab the tiebreaker between these two, which could be crucial come playoff time. Both Paris and Milan entered this clash with an identical 16-13 record, but Paris now improves to 17-13 while Milan drops to 16-14. TJ Shorts was outstanding for the hosts, posting a 24-point, 10-assist double-double in addition to 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. Sebastian Herrera and Maodo Lo both added 13 points, and Tyson Ward poured in 11. Milan's leading scorer was Fabien Causeur with 18 points, followed by Nico Mannion with 17, Zach LeDay with 14 and Shavon Shields with 10.