By Stavros Barbarousis/ info@eurohoops.net
With two games left – three in the case of Crvena Zvezda – and with Darussafaka at 13-14 before today’s game against Galatasaray, the race for the final standings is more than interesing. Coach David Blatt’s team being the dark horse in the fight for the playoffs as they hosts Crvena Zvezda on the last regular season round and even the fourth spot, the last with the home court advantage is up for grabs.
The situation is tricky for Fenerbahce. The team of coach Obradovic has for the moment the tie breaking advantage against Panathinaikos and also against Anadolu Efes, but if there’s a three way tie between Baskonia, Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce – or even a four way tie with Anadolu Efes included – then Panathinaikos after last night’s win at Baskonia will have the advantage and the Spaniards will push Fenerbahce behind them, because they have beat them twice.
As you can see in the table below, the finish is going to be more than interesting and even Crvena Zvezda with a win tonight against Barcelona can fight for the fourth spot!
| CLUB | RECORD | Round 28 | Round 29 | Round 30 |
| 4. Fenerbahce | 17-11 | – | @Real Madrid | Barcelona |
| 5. Panathinaikos | 17-11 | – | CSKA Moscow | Maccabi T.A. |
| 6. Anadolu Efes | 16-12 | – | Olympiacos | @Real Madrid |
| 7. Baskonia | 16-12 | – | @Galatasaray | Zalgiris Kaunas |
| 8. Crvena Zvezda | 15-12 | @Barcelona | Unics Kazan | @Darusafaka |
- Fenerbahce has the tie breaking advantage against Panathinaikos (+10), Crvena Zvezda (+13) and Anadolu Efes (+5), but not against Baskonia after two defeats by the Spaniards (-39)
- Panathinaikos has two wins against Baskonia (+10), the advantage over Crvena Zvezda (+5), absolute tie with Anadolu Efes as both teams won one game after overtime and the disadvantage against Fenerbahce (-10).
- Baskonia has two wins over Fenerbahce (+39), two defeats by Panathinaikos (-10) and the disadvantage against Anadolu Efes (-10) and Crvena Zvezda (-11).
- Anadolu Efes has two wins over Crvena Zvezda (+35), absolute tie with Panathinaikos, the advantage over Baskonia (+10) and the disadvantage against Fenerbahce (-5).
- Crvena Zveda has the advantage over Baskonia (+11), two defeats by Anadolu Efes (-35) and also the disadvantage against Fenerbahce (-13) and Panathinaikos (-5).
UPDATE: After Friday’s games Crvena Zvezda is still 8th at 15-13 and Darussafaka Dogus is 9th at 14-14. So the last playoffs spot will be decided in the last game between them with the winner taking it, unless Darussafaka Dogus gets beaten next week on the road by Brose Bamberg and Zvezda beats at home Unics Kazan. In that case, the Serbs will seal their tickets before the last round.