By Lefteris Moutis / moutis@eurohoops.net
Everyone should be rather cautious in the final round of the Euroleague, where there are several teams that will compete without any particular motivation. Efes however has a head start in the qualification process.
In the Turkish derby Efes will probably defeat Fenerbahce since they don’t have any particular motivation. Besides, in order for them to come first CSKA would also have to be defeated by Milano. Efes however is burning to win in order to advance to the playoffs and they will probably do so relatively easily.
In the other game that is a “final” for qualifying to the next round, Maccabi has a small advantage over Alba. The European champions have more players with character and can impose themselves on the Germans, who might be in good form but lack the depth and the quality in their roster in order to survive a “life or death” game.
Aside from this, Laboral will wait for Efes’s result to advance to the next phase. However, the only thing that is certain is that they can increase their productivity against Malaga who is not really known for their good defense. In the second round of the Top 16 the Basques have scored more than 81 points in all games except those against Olympiacos and CSKA who have the best defense in the group.
Finally, the over might be worth it in the game of Olympiacos against Nizhny but with a greater risk. The red-and-whites will have several absentees but in their last few games without Vasilis Spanoulis they pursued a faster tempo and the score increased. Nizhny is a team that predominantly plays with many possessions so both teams will probably score more than 158 points.
Once again this week we are including a game from the Eurocup. UNICS Kazan lost with a 13-point deficit at home from Gran Canaria and has few chances of advancing. However, it’s impossible for them not to put up a fight. The personalities on their roster will try to overturn the situation and they can definitely justify the handicap’s 4,5 points. Besides, the Spaniards can afford to relax in light of the safety provided by the +13.
The betting tips
Gran Canaria-Unics Kazan (+4,5)
@Pinnaclesports 1,94
Fenerbahce(+1,5)-Efes 2
@Unibet 1,91
Alba (+2,5)-Maccabi 2
@Unibet 1,91
Unicaja-Laboral Laboral Over 81,5 points
@William Hill 1,85
Olympiacos-Nizhny Over 158,5 points
@Bet365 1,90