By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The opening night of the playoffs in the Euroleague once again yielded a positive result for our betting column, which had 3/5 correct predictions. The second games are harder to predict, but there are several choices from Germany and Italy as well.
In the first game CSKA showed that they can easily dominate Panathinaikos. The Muscovites scored 93 points, slowing down in the final minutes. Their scoring average is 84,5, which is way lower than CSKA’s levels at home. Besides, in a total of 13 games they’ve scored less only against Olympiacos and Fenerbahce.
Olympiacos will surely have a different appearance in the second game with Barcelona. The Greek team will be better and by changing their strategy, they can at least resist the Catalans. The game is expected to be close and so even if the home team win, they’ll do it by a small margin, smaller than 7,5 points.
Milano want to confirm their lead on the table against Cantu who are struggling to get into the top eight, but they’re in good enough form in their last few games at home. The champions have to step on the gas once again in the playoffs, where it’s a risk to bet on a comfortable win from their part. However, they will definitely try to play in a high tempo, so the ‘over’ is a fairly wise choice.
In the German derby Bamberg is called to cope with the loss of the Cup in the final. Bayern hosts them in a game where, with a win, they can challenge Alba’s first place spot, but where they can also jeopardize their second place spot if they lose. Trinchieri’s players are in good form and they can at least defend the handicap that is in their favor.
Oldenburg is coming from winning the Cup and hosting Ulm is surely not the easiest task. The game will be unpredictable, but even if the home team doesn’t get the win they can at least keep the score low by imposing their own rhythm on the game. So, we are going to place our bet on the ‘under’.
The betting tips
CSKA-Panathinaikos CSKA Over 84,5 points
@Unibet 1,86
Barcelona-Olympiacos (+7,5) 2
@Pinnaclesports 1,94
Cantu-Milano Over 160,5 points
@Coral 1,91
Bayern-Brose Baskets (+4,5) 2
@Ladbrokes 1,85
Oldenburg-Ulm Under 158,5 points
@Bet365 1,90