Name: Top 10 Plays | Playoffs Game 3 | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
Channel: Euroleague Basketball

### Oded Kattash, Maccabi head coach

"For us the most important thing is we can’t think about Game 5. We have to come with the right attitude and learn the lesson from Game 2. We have to come out with the same energy. It’s going to be really aggressive, and we have to be ready for 40 minutes to do something really big. We are excited."

### Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos head coach

"We will play our game. Of course, Baldwin is a very good player and it would be very good for them if he played. After these three games I am still confident we will make it. I think we played better basketball in the first two games and we lost one of them in the final play. In Game 3 I think Maccabi played much better than us, we did not deserve to win but we had the possession after everything had been wrong for us. We made a mistake and we lost. But I have a lot of confidence in my team, they showed great character all season. I am expcting better performances from players who have not shown up yet despite playing great during the season."

### Roman Sorkin, Maccabi player

"They will come out more aggressive, they want to win this game just as much as we do. We need to prepare for a physical game. We have to stay focused and remain hungry as if we are not leading the series. We are waiting to see our fans once again."

### Josh Nebo, Maccabi player

"Tomorrow is a new day, it’s a new game. Everything we did yesterday doesn’t matter for tomorrow. We have to watch film and get ready mentally for a difficult game. I feel like we have a very well balanced team - we can either win with our guards or win inside. Everyone has to stay ready and we will give our best shot."

### Jerian Grant, Panathinaikos player

"We have to play with more grit. We have to be more physical and bring the fight to them. We have a team that will fight and give it all. It's a one-game season for us now. Everybody is focused on that game."

Game News

Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos: 'I am still confident we will make it'

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (2024-05-02T18:45:00.000Z)

Be sure to take a look at the best ten plays of the 2023 24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs Game 3!

Top 10 Plays | Playoffs Game 3 | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Real Madrid shatters playoff records in sweep of Baskonia

There were offensive fireworks in Real Madrid's Game 3 win over Baskonia Vitoria-Gateiz on Wednesday night. *Los Blancos* not only won 98-102 to sweep the series to become the first team to qualify for the 2024 Final Four, but they did it in style, in the process setting several team playoff records.

After setting a new mark with 27 regular-season wins, Real Madrid joined CSKA Moscow as the only teams to sweep four different best-of-five series. This was Real's third series sweep since 2019; they swept Panathinaikos in 2019, Maccabi in 2022 and now Baskonia. *Los Blancos* also beat Maccabi 3-0 back in 2013.

But this Game 3 win, however, helped them do it in a manner like no other team has done it before.

Game Videos

Wednesday night's win saw the two teams combine for 200 points, which is second-highest scoring non-overtime game in playoff history. Real's 102 points tied for the third most in a single playoff game and helped Real set a new single-series playoff record by averaging 97.7 points per game, surpassing Maccabi's previous mark of 95.5 which stood since 2005.

*Los Blancos* did this with the help of 28 assists in Game 3, which tied a single-game playoff record and got Real to 24.3 assists per game, another new single-series record, a full assist better than CSKA's 23.3 from 2015.

And that's not all, as Real shattered the single-series record for average PIR. Real's team PIR of 137 in Game 3 was the second-best in a playoff game ever and helped Real finish the series with an average of 124.5. That smashed the previous mark of 116.5, set by Maccabi in 2005. Real now has two of the three highest single-game PIRs in playoff history, after accumulating a PIR of 134 in Game 2.

Walter Tavares became a 12th different man to block a single-game record 4 shots in a playoff game.

Tavares tied playoff record in blocks in Game 3

### Tavares and Baskonia joined the records party

Walter Tavares also etched his name into the playoff history books, this time by becoming the 12th different man to block a single-game record 4 shots in a playoff game. He had a total of 8 in the series, good for a 2.7 blocks per game, which is the best ever in a single-series.

Baskonia, too, did its part to make this game even more memorable. Baskonia's 56 first-half points is tied for second-best first-half scoring in the playoffs ever. Baskonia tied its club playoff record by finishing the night with 98 points.

The hosts finished with 16 triples, tied for the second-most in a single playoff game, and its 14.7 average for the series is the new playoff record, too. The previous best was CSKA's 13.3 in 2021.

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v Real Madrid (2024-05-01T18:30:00.000Z)

One step closer to reaching the Final Four with his third different EuroLeague team, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius analyzed his team's Game 3 win over AS Monaco.

Sarunas Jasikevicius, Fenerbahce: 'Every game is a dogfight'

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v AS Monaco (2024-05-01T17:45:00.000Z)

Real Madrid became the first team to reach the 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four after a comeback 98-102 win at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz that completed a clean sweep of the Basque outfit in their playoff series. 

Resilient Real edges Baskonia, 98-102, to reach Final Four 

Real Madrid became the first team to reach the 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four after a comeback 98-102 win at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz that completed a clean sweep of the Basque outfit in their playoff series.

Power forward Guerschon Yabusele produced a monster fourth quarter and engineered the final twist in a breathtaking contest as he racked up 23 points and 7 rebounds for the visitors, who never looked back after engineering a 0-13 run to take an 80-88 lead in the final period.

Shapshooter Mario Hezonja poured 16 points for Real, Facundo Campazzo and Gabriel Deck chipped in with 13 each while towering center Walter Tavares added 12 to go with 13 rebounds. Crucially, veteran Sergio Rodriguez dished out 9 assists in just 13 minutes on the court to dismantle the home team’s defense when the chips were down.

At the other end, Markus Howard led the way for Baskonia with a game-high 29 points and Codi Miller-McIntyre contributed with 17 points and 11 assists. Nikos Rogkavopoulos chipped in with 18 points, Vanja Marinkovic netted 17 and Matt Costello added 11 for the home team, which fell short despite netting a second-best-ever tally of 56 points in a half that gave Baskonia a 4-point lead at the interval.

Real prevailed in yet another high-scoring game against a familiar foe with Rodriguez and Campazzo playing key roles late in the game as they fed the ruthless Yabusele in the paint.

Baskonia led throughout the first half and surged ahead 52-42 late in the second quarter before resurgent Real slashed the home team’s lead to 56-52 at halftime. Baskonia dominated the paint in the first half, having outrebounded Real 20-14, with Howard pouring 16 points while Marinkovic added 11. Real dished out more assists (14) and had fewer turnovers (4) but did not do a great job defending the perimeter, as Baskonia sank a barrage of shots from downtown.

However, the visitors kept Howard scoreless in the third quarter and closed to 73-72 ahead of the final 10 minutes, which was a clear sign of things to come. At the start of the fourth quarter, Real edged ahead 73-75 for its first lead since early in the first period before Howard replied with 7 unanswered points, briefly allowing Baskonia to retake the lead. However, Real then showed all its might with a 0-13 streak that gave the visitors the lead for good.

Baskonia was able to pull up to 95-98 late in the game but the home players failed to contain Yabusele down the stretch and the Frenchman was lethal in putting away his shots, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter to seal Real’s smooth progress to the Final Four.

The defending champion completed a 3-0 sweep of the home team and advanced into the showpiece event 

Fenerbahce recorded an 89-78 victory over AS Monaco to retain homecourt advantage and take a 2-1 series lead. 

Fener leaned on defense to set up Game 3 win 

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has turned the Ulker Sports and Event Hall into a real fortress in recent weeks, delivering a series of spectacular offensive performances to thrill its yellow legion of fans and send opponents home without reward.

And Wednesday was no different, as the Turkish team recorded an 89-78 victory over AS Monaco to retain homecourt advantage and take a 2-1 series lead.

It was the tenth consecutive home game with Fener scoring at least 80 points, with Saras Jasikevicius’s team passing the 100-point barrier on four of those occasions to show just how comfortable it feels in Istanbul.

After the game, though, Fenerbahce’s main protagonists preferred to focus their praise on the team’s efforts at the other end of the floor.

After providing 13 points and 5 assists for a team-high PIR of 18, backcourt star Nick Calathes commented: “Defense was crucial for us today. We held a very good offensive team. We made some stops, we made some big shots at the end, but defense was key.”

Monaco’s failure to reach 80 points was in large part because of Fener’s excellent defense against the visiting team’s dangerous guards, with Mike James (11 points), Jordan Loyd (11) and Elie Okobo (2) all held well below their season averages. Monaco especially struggled from long-range, making just 4 of its 21 attempts from beyond the arc, and couldn’t score any more than 21 points in any of the four quarters.

Coach Jasikevicius pronounced himself very happy with those defensive efforts, also explaining why that was so important as he said: ”Our defense was much better.

“It's so difficult to score against them. They’re such a good defensive team, we have to try to slow them down. There's still a lot of stuff we can do better, but these are very good defensive numbers against such a talented team. We need one more like this.”

With one more like this, Fener will be returning to the Final Four for the first time since 2019.

Sergio Rodriguez, Real Madrid: 'The season starts with the playoffs'

Dusko Ivanovic, Baskonia: 'Everybody fought for 40 minutes'

Chus Mateo, Real Madrid: 'We believed until the end'

Miller McIntyre gets airborne to grab an offensive rebound and flush it down the rim!

Top 10 Plays | Playoffs Game 3 | 2023-24 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Sarunas Jasikevicius, Fenerbahce: 'Every game is a dogfight'

Sergio Rodriguez, Real Madrid: 'The season starts with the playoffs'

Dusko Ivanovic, Baskonia: 'Everybody fought for 40 minutes'

Chus Mateo, Real Madrid: 'We believed until the end'

A mammoth put-back dunk by Miller-McIntyre! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night