By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
A double main event at Izmir and Strasbourg highlights the sixth and final week of the Basketball Champions League playoffs. Seven Gameday 6 affairs plus two Gameday 4 contests shape the nine-game schedule stretching from Tuesday to Thursday to complete the Final 8 field.
Pinar Karsiyaka or Happy Casa Brindisi after a direct collision in Turkey will generate the second Group I berth in the Final 8. The hosts need a win by a margin of five points or more to clinch, while the Italian outlet can advance by grabbing the W or staying within a four-point distance as the dust settles. The other Tuesday game features progressed Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon at home versus eliminated Tofas Bursa.
The winner of SIG Strasbourg versus Turk Telekom on Wednesday will seal the eighth Final 8 ticket. Both teams owning the tiebreaker over AEK makes things relatively simple in Group K as the Queen is knocked out despite actually being tied at 2-3 with the French and Turkish clubs prior to clinched Nizhny Novgorod’s visit.
Casademont Zaragoza and ERA Nymburk have secured the Group L Final 8 spots before facing each other Thursday. The Czech outlet will previously be in Italy to face Dinamo Sassari Tuesday, while the Italian side will also welcome Brose Bamberg at the Palaserradimigni Thursday.
Lenovo Tenerife will seek a team-record ninth consecutive BCL home win in the game against Hereda San Pablo Burgos but both Spanish teams are moving through Group J. The two eliminated sides Igokea and VEF Riga will also meet Tuesday at SD Laktasi.
Group I
Tuesday
Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon – Tofas Bursa (18:30 CET)
Pinar Karsiyaka – Happy Casa Brindisi (18:30 CET)
1. y-Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon 9 (4-1)
2. Happy Casa Brindisi 8 (3-2)
3. Pinar Karsiyaka 7 (2-3)
4. x-Tofas Bursa 6 (1-4)
Group J
Tuesday
Lenovo Tenerife – Hereda San Pablo Burgos (20:30 CET)
Igokea – VEF Riga (20:30 CET)
1. y-Hereda San Pablo Burgos 9 (4-1)
2. y-Lenovo Tenerife 9 (4-1)
3. x-Igokea 7 (2-3)
4. x-VEF Riga 5 (0-5)
Group K
Wednesday
SIG Strasbourg – Turk Telekom (18:30 CET)
AEK – Nizhny Novgorod (18:30 CET)
1. y-Nizhny Novgorod 9 (4-1)
2. x-AEK 7 (2-3)
3. Turk Telekom 7 (2-3)
4. SIG Strasbourg 7 (2-3)
Group L
Tuesday
Dinamo Sassari – ERA Nymburk (20:30 CET)
Thursday
ERA Nymburk – Casademont Zaragoza (18:30 CET)
Dinamo Sassari – Brose Bamberg (18:30 CET)
1. y-Casademont Zaragoza 9 (4-1)
2. y-ERA Nymburk 7 (3-1)
3. x-Brose Bamberg 7 (2-3)
4. x-Dinamo Sassari 4 (0-4)
y-clinched Final 8 berth
x-eliminated
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League