Round 30 roll call: Belinelli made age look irrelevant

Smith’s career-highs sank Efes

ALBA Berlin point guard Jaleen Smith had the best shooting night of his EuroLeague career in a thrilling 95-93 win over the two-time defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul. Smith set new personal highs with 25 points and 7 three-point shots made on 10 attempts. Smith had 6 points in the first half, then knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to help ALBA open a 19-point third-quarter lead. Efes rallied late in the third quarter with Smith on the bench, and the visitors went in front in the fourth with Smith keeping ALBA in range with 2 more triples. Smith had to leave the game due to a cut with 6:19 left in the game, whereupon Efes went ahead 77-82, but upon his return with 3:46 left, Smith wasted no time to knock down 2 more threes to tie the game at 84-84 and send it to its dramatic finale.

Martin boosted Zvezda in a rare start

Big man Hassan Martin gave Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade found himself in a starting lineup for only the second time this season, but did his part on both ends of the floor in a come-from-behind 74-63 win over the visiting Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Martin, who missed 11 games due to injury, had scored a total of 12 points since returning to action in Round 25. He almost matched that amount on Thursday night with 10 points on 5-for-6 two-point shooting. Martin also tied his career highs with 8 total rebounds and 6 on the defensive glass. He also delivered a second-quarter block that gave Zvezda a boost and sparked a 14-0 run that turned 23-35 deficit into a two-point halftime lead, paving the way for a win that left Zvezda alive in the playoff race.

Near-perfect Colson helped Maccabi roll

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv raced away to a 67-85 road win at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, inching closer to a playoff berth. Bonzie Colson was one of Maccabi's main protagonists in that big win. The versatile power forward posted 16 points by making 6 of 8 two-pointers and 1 of 2 shots from downtown. He also pulled down 5 rebounds, including 2 on the offensive glass, had a steal and a block. It was the 16th time in this, his first EuroLeague season, that Colson scored in double figures while pulling down at least 5 rebounds. On Thursday night, he also had a +24 in the plus/minus column, the highest of all Maccabi players.

Tobey displayed versatility in Athens

Barcelona big man Mike Tobey scoring in double digits for the first time since Round 11, and did so in style during Barcelona's 74-88 playoff-clinching win over Panathinaikos Athens. Tobey scored 16 points by making both of his two-point shots and 4-of-6 three-pointers. He also pulled down 4 rebounds, dished 3 assists and picked up a steal, all in just under 20 minutes on the floor. Tobey's first 11 points came in the final 5 minutes of the second quarter, helping Barcelona take control of the contest and take another step towards earning home court advantage in the playoffs.

Obst's career-best shooting performance

FC Bayern Munich was on the wrong end of a 99-74 blowout loss in Milan despite a career-night Andreas Obst. No Bayern player had scored more than 23 points this season before Obst opened fire in Milan. Obst himself never scored more than 18 points in a single game and never had a PIR higher than 13 before Round 30. On Friday night, thiugh, he netted 27 points and had a PIR of 24. In addition, Obst tied a club record with 7 three-pointers made on 11 attempts, while the rest of his teammates combined to shoot 1-for 14 for the game from deep. It was a memorable performance from Obst, albeit in a 25-point loss.

Age did not matter for Belinelli

Real Madrid ran past Virtus Segafredo Bologna 79-96 on Friday night, but that did not stop Virtus shooting guard Marco Belinelli from putting on a historic performance a day before turning 37 years old. Not only did Belinelli score a career-best 26 points on 6-for-9 three-point shooting, but he became the second-oldest player in regular season history to score at least 25 points. The only player older was Vassilis Spanoulis, who scored 31 in January 2020, when he was 37 years and 169 days old.

Belinelli scored 15 points in the first 4 minutes and 40 seconds of the second quarter, keeping Virtus in the game, and added 5 more in the third quarter to keep Virtus's hopes alive before Real broke the game wide open early in the fourth – with Belinelli on the bench. Incredibly, in a 17-point loss, Belinelli had +16 in the plus/minus column.