By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
What a night Thursday was! Real Madrid lost for the first time in this season’s Top16 and Anadolu Efes proved on the court that it can have Final Four ambitions. Here’s what happened in the first five games of the 7th Top16 gameday.
- Anadolu Efes had the honor to beat Real Madrid and stop his undefeated streak in Top16 (74-72). The two teams are tied with a 6-1 record on top of group E with the Turkish club proving that they are part of the elite. Jamon Lucas Gordon was the key for the win (16 p., 5 as., 4 r., 1 st.), while Real had the chance to steal the game, but the final three point shot of Jaycee Carroll didn’t get in.
- Sasha Kaun had the more mature game yet in his Euroleague career and despite missing injured Victor Khryapa, CSKA Moscow dominated Panathinaikos. The Russians got the win (86-69) after a stellar second half, while the Greens never got into the game with the exception of the second quarter. It was obvious that after winning the Greek cup against Olympiacos, Panathinaikos didn’t played with the proper focus in Moscow, even if, as coach Messina said: “Kaun played like Bill Russel”.
- Alba Berlin was on the verge of its second Top16 win, but Marcus Williams saved the day for Unicaja with a three pointer 0.6 second before the final buzzer. The team from Malaga won on the road 67-65 and neither Yassin Idbihi or Deon Thompson despite his offensive rebound could force overtime in the little time that was left. After this win Unicaja stayed alive in the chase of the play offs.
- Βarcelona was leading 80-67 in Tel Aviv with just 2.23 minutes left on the clock. Somehow, Maccabi come back in the game after a 10-0 run with 15 seconds left, but the Catalans managed to get the 82-77 win. It was a game dominated by the visitors, Sarunas Jasikevicius was great in the gym where he is still worshiped like a god, but in the end, like his team, made some inexplicable mistakes. Still, Maccabi lost and the play offs seem to be out of reach.
- There was an overtime in Bamberg, but in the end the team which really needed the win, got it. Zalgiris prevailed 88-87 thanks to three made free throws by Marco Popovic in the buzzer of the extra five minutes. Brose Baskets gave a real fight for one more game, but the German champions are still searching their first win in Top16. It was a heart breaking defeat for them.