By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
EA7 Milano got the road win that may give them the second place in Group E and the home court advantage in the play offs even if coach Banchi after the game said that “nothing yet is decided”. The Italians beat Spanoulis-less defending champion Olympiacos with a 88-86 final score. The game was decided by the great performance of Keith Langford which concluded with a three pointer which gave Milano a 85-81 lead with 38 seconds left. The Greeks couldn’t do anything better in the remaining time than cutting the final point difference to two.
In the first game of the night, CSKA Moscow survived a close call in Kaunas and got a 88-86 win for Group F. In the last crucial play Aaron Jackson blocked Justin Dentmon as he attempted a three pointer in order to win the game. However, nobody expected that Zalgiris would put such a fight, specially after missing also due to injury its captain Paulius Jankunas.
In Barcelona, the hosts remained unbeaten in Group E by beating Fenerbahce/ Ulker by 20 points (93-73). The Catalans were in control of the game almost from the start, got a double digit lead in the second quarter and never looked back. It was the 252th Euroleague game of Juan Carlos Navarro in Euroleague who is now tied with Theodoros Papaloukas in the first place of the all time list.
Finally in Belgrade, Partizan even without injured Bogdan Bogdanovic got the 70-55 upset over Bayern Munich. It was just the second win of the Serbs in Top16 and at this point it seems to be more than anything else a problem for the Germans who have lost ground in the play offs race of Group F.