By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The second round of the playoffs was once again favorable in terms of betting, with 2-for-3 predictions. The third games of the series are close and you have to be careful.
Panathinaikos lost easily in the first game, but they reacted in the second and lost in the details. The greens are always better at home and outside of Baskonia Laboral are not as competitive. In the third game of the series the home team are fighting for their survival in the competition and they can definitely win with a difference higher than 6,5 points.
Crvena Zvezda fought in both games in Russia against CSKA and they are definitely going to be competitive at home. The score did not go very high because CSKA didn’t score a lot, but the Serbs got 74 and 76 points away from home and in Belgrade they can exceed the limit of 78,5 points. In a fast paced game of many possessions, CSKA will probably not concede fewer points. Besides, they’ve done this only two times in the last ten away games in the Euroleague.
Lokomotiv Kuban managed to keep the score low in the first game in Barcelona and won. They will try to do the same thing in the third game in Barcelona as well. However, the Catalans are expected to be the ones who are going to set the pace of the game. In both games the ‘blaugrana’ had more possessions, but Lokomotiv are certainly not without offensive talent. Kuban’s limit is only 69,5 points and Bartzokas’s players will probably exceed it. In a total of 26 games they scored less only in the three games against Barcelona and Crvena Zvezda. We are going to bet on the Over, since the game’s pace is expected to be higher, compared to the one in Krasnodar. Respectively, the 7,5-point handicap seems rather high for this pair. The Russians will probably fight and manage to defend it.
In the last pair of the playoffs, Real are expected to react against Fenerbahce, but the 5,5-point handicap is such that it makes it more confusing to make a prediction. So it’s probably better if you avoid this game.
The betting tips
Crvena Zvezda – CSKA Moscow Crvena Zvezda Over 77,5 points
@William Hill 1,85
Panathinaikos – Laboral (+6,5) 1
@Nesine 1,70
Barcelona – Lokomotiv Kuban Lokomotiv Kuban Over 68,5 points
@Coral 1,75
Barcelona – Lokomotiv Kuban (+7,5) 2
@Nesine 1,70