By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
The sweeps have been accomplished by five teams from as many countries, with two teams having three each and the rest following behind. Here are the 11 in 44 best-of-five series, in anticipation of the next one(s)…
2008-09
Face off: (1) CSKA Moscow – (2) Partizan 3-0 (56-47, 77-50, 56-67)
Finish line: Finalists
CSKA Moscow was the first team to sweep a best-of-five series in the playoffs. Its victim was Partizan, with whom it had squared off during the regular season too, but had split road wins. The common denominator was strong defenses, much more so in the case of CSKA, which limited Partizan to an average of 51 points over the three games.
Erazem Lorbek played the main role for CSKA with 15.7 points per game in the series.
2011-12
Face off: (1) FC Barcelona Regal – (2) UNICS Kazan 3-0 (78-66, 66-63, 56-67)
Finish line: Third place
With a 15-1 record entering the playoffs, FC Barcelona Regal was the absolute favorite to qualify from the series against UNICS Kazan and had little trouble – though Game 2 was a nail-biter. Pete Mickeal’s 2 free throws 4.9 seconds before the end made the difference and Henry Domercant scored a three-pointer from behind halfcourt at the final buzzer. Just like in the regular season, Barcelona swept its opponent again on the way to the Final Four.
This remains UNICS’s only appearance in the playoffs in three seasons in the competition.
2012-13
Face off: (2) Real Madrid – (3) Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 3-0 (79-53, 75-63, 57-69)
Finish line: Finalists
Real Madrid was going full steam ahead towards first place in its Top 16 group, but then accumulated defeats in the last rounds that dropped them to second place by the end of that phase. That didn’t matter at all in the playoffs against Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. With Sergio Llull scoring 15.7 points in the series and their defense at 57.6 points allowed, qualifying for the Final Four was an easy task.
This remains Real Madrid’s only three-game playoff sweep.
2013-14
Face off: (1) FC Barcelona – (4) Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul 3-0 (88-61, 84-63, 75-78)
Finish line: Third place
FC Barcelona was in the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul for the very first. Barcelona had finished the Top 16 in first place of its group with a 12-2 record, Galatasaray in fourth of the corresponding group at 7-7. Barcelona was the favorite going in and took care of business, even though it took some extra effort in Game 3, as trailed 72-70 going into the final minute of the game.
Barcelona hasn’t swept a series since.
2014-15
Face off: (2) Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul – (3) Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 3-0 (80-72, 82-67, 74-75 OT)
Finish line: Fourth place
The first time Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul advanced to the Final Four was done through a sweep in Coach Zeljko Obradovic‘s second season at the helm. Maccabi tried to make it difficult, but it was all over in three games after Jeremy Pargo’s missed layup at the end of overtime in Game 3, after Andrew Goudelock’s go-ahead layup 9.1 seconds before the buzzer.
That was the first of three consecutive sweeps for Fenerbahce.
2015-16
Face off: (1) CSKA Moscow – (4) Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 3-0 (84-74, 77-76, 71-78)
Finish line: Champions
In 2016, CSKA had on its roster the MVP of the season and the Final Four, the top scorer and the competition leader in PIR. They were all the same person: Nando De Colo. The protagonists, however, were many more throughout the season. One only has to consider that De Colo was the third-best scorer in the playoffs against Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade (Kyle Hines had 15.7 points, Milos Teodosic 14.7 points and De Colo 13.3).
CSKA went on to become the first of only two championship-winning teams that had swept the playoffs.