JWSport Jacek Waszak – Sport journalist
Euroleague is entering the final phase of the regular season . The best league in Europe enters the decisive phase which is Play-Offs. The penultimate Euroleague game will be played on Thursday and Friday and the 32nd round is already behind us. Valencia is away from the playoffs, having lost to Olympiacos. There was a big surprise in Tel Aviv, where Maccabi was better than the leader from Barcelona.
In Tel Aviv, a big surprise for Barca, despite the fact that Maccabi will not advance to the play offs, the team from Israel played an extremely aggressive and fierce meeting that day.
Maccabi team, deprived of any chance to qualify for the playoffs, stood up to the leader from Barcelona and after three quarters led 65:59. Fate of the fourth quarter was at stake until the last seconds. With 11 seconds to go Jones made two-plus-one.
Cory Higgins scored from long distance and the game went into overtime in Israel.
In the overtime Maccabi proved to be better and withstood the pressure of the opponent from Catalonia, and it was a surprise victory over Barcelona 99:94. To the success of Maccabi Tel Aviv contributed: Zizić 24 (3 assists, 8 rebounds), Bender 16 (4 assists, 6 rebounds),Aloiaro 12 (2 assists, 1 rebound) , Casspi 11,CBryant 10, Wilbekin 10 (3 assists, 2 rebounds),
Maccabi Tel Aviv – Barcelona 99:94 (19:24, 20:24, 26:21, 15:21, overtime 19:14)
Maccabi Tel Aviv : Zizic 24 (3 assists, 8 rebounds), Bender 16 (4 assists, 6 rebounds),Aloiaro 12 (2 assists, 1 rebound) , Casspi 11,CBryant 10, Wilbekin 10 (3 assists, 2 rebounds ),
Jones Jr 4 (8 assists, 6 rebounds), Blayzer 2, DiBartolomeo 0, Cline 0
Barcelona: Mirotić 23 (3 assists, 10 rebounds), Higgins 20 (1 assist, 1 rebound),
Kuric 12 (1 assist, 3 rebounds), Davies 12 ( 3 assists , 8 rebounds),Calathes 9 (5 assists, 2 rebounds), Hanga 6 , Smits 6, Orola 4 (1 assist, 3 rebounds), Abrines 0, Westermann 2, Bolmaro 0
In St. Petersburg there was a clash of Russian tycoons: Zenit and CSKA Moscow. From the beginning of the meeting, events on the court were better controlled by guests from Moscow. Zenit St. Petersburg with Ponitka defeated vice-leader CSKA Moscow 74:86
In CSKA played a good meeting Johannes Voigtmann. The frontcourt player threw 21 points, mistaking only one shot (6/7 from the field, 6/6 from free throws). Zenit didn’t have anything to try and force a better game in their favor, Baron scored 24 points or our compatriot Mateusz Ponitka who tried to add some points for his team and in total had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Unfortunately it was not enough and they were ineffective in important moments, but better these fragments of the game in attack performed rivals from CSKA Moscow and finally players from St. Petersburg suffered a defeat 86:74.
After Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s matches we already know that promotion to the best eight is assured: Barcelona, CSKA Moscow, Anadolu Efes, Olimpia Milano and Fenerbahce. The fight for the remaining three places is still on. Bayern is almost sure of promotion with a balance of 19-13, while the last two places will probably go to two teams from the three: Baskonia (18-4), Real Madrid (18-4), Zenit St. Petersburg (17-4).
Results of the 32nd round:
Crvena Zvezda mts – AX Armani Milan 72:93 (12:22, 24:25, 15:28, 21:18)
Real Madrid – Anadolu Efes Istanbul 83:108 (20:20, 22:21, 22:35, 19:32)
Žalgiris Kaunas – Alba Berlin 96:86 (21:23, 20:28, 27:10, 28:25)
Zenit St. Petersburg – CSKA Moscow 74:86 (18:22, 24:26, 15:15, 17:23)
Panathinaikos OPAP – KIROLBET Baskonia 82:97 (21:25, 20:24, 18:23, 23:25)
Maccabi Tel Aviv – Barcelona 99:94 (19:24, 20:24, 26:21, 15:21, overtime 19:14)
FC Bayern Munich – Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 68:77 (15:18, 19:17, 10:18, 24:24)
Khimki Moscow – LDLC ACVEL Villeurbanne 87:85 (20:22, 22:9, 20:19, 13:25, overtime 13:10)
Valencia Basket – Olympiakos Piraeus 79:88 (19:23, 12:21, 10:30, 38:14)
Results of the 33rd round:
Panathinaikos – Ax Armani Milan 86:83 (15:26, 14:20, 20:13, 21:11, overtime 16:13)
Crvena Zvezda mts – Maccabi Tel Aviv 76:64 (15:21, 18:13, 20:11, 23:19)
KIROLBET Baskonia – Anadolu Efes Istanbul 101:111 (19:22, 22:24, 22:19)
CSKA Moscow – Khimki Moscow
Zenit St. Petersburg – LDLC ACVEL Villeurbanne
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul – Barcelona
Alba Berlin – Valencia Basket
Bayern Munich – Žalgiris Kaunas 71:70 21:22, 16:14, 20:18, 14:16
Real Madrid – Olympiacos Piraeus
