Olympiacos joined Fenerbahce in booking its ticket for Abu Dhabi on Thursday night
Game Center, Game 4: Barça vs. Monaco in final minutes; Efes beats PAO to set up Game 5
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Friday, May 2
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 85-82 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Efes made sure that its playoff series against Panathinaikos will go down to the wire after beating the competition’s reigning champion 85-82 in Game 4 to force a do-or-die Game 5 in the Greek capital next Tuesday night. Elijah Bryant paced Efes on 19 points, while Rolands Smits turned out to be a trump card as he came off the bench to add 15. Ercan Osmani was also instrumental with 14 points while Shane Larkin racked up 9 points and as many assists for the home team. At the other end, former Efes prodigy Cedi Osman led Panathinaikos with a joint career-high 22 points and Juancho Hernangomez netted 15. Kostas Sloukas scored 14 points while Kendrick Nunn was limited to 12 points after shooting 3 of 12 from the floor.
FC Barcelona vs. AS Monaco (20:45 CEST)
This week’s action concludes with FC Barcelona seeking another home win to keep the series alive against AS Monaco.
Joan Penarroya’s team delivered a determined performance on Wednesday to seal a high-scoring victory, with the key role played by backup big man Willy Hernangomez as he recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds.
With Jan Vesely’s status uncertain, that kind of presence from Hernangomez will again be crucial for the Blaugrana, while visiting coach Vassilis Spanoulis will hope that his own centers Mam Jaiteh and Daniel Theis will offer better protection of their backboard after allowing Barca to claim 14 crucial offensive rebounds in Game 3.
Another statistic to concern Spanoulis is the fact that his team failed to snare a single steal in Game 3, and visiting backcourt stars Mike James and Elie Okobo will look to recover their usual defensive intensity to complement their ever-present offensive threat.
Having scored 89 points in defeat on Tuesday (led by James with 20 points and Okobo with 19), Monaco will not particularly concerned by its offense, which has performed with fluidity and efficiency throughout the series.
Instead, the key to the game is likely whether the visitors can stop Barca’s key scorers Kevin Punter, Jabari Parker and Dario Brizuela – who all scored in double figures in Game 3 – from forcing a series decider next week.
Thursday, May 1
Real Madrid 84-86 Olympiacos Piraeus
Olympiacos has secured its fourth straight passage to the EuroLeague Final Four after beating Real Madrid 84-86 at Movistar Arena on Thursday night. Evan Fournier led all scorers with 23 points and Kostas Papanikolaou recorded 12, of which 9 came on three huge three-pointers early in the fourth quarter. Sasha Vezenkov and Nigel Williams-Goss netted 10 each. Mario Hezonja paced Real Madrid with 21 points, Mario Hezonja had 12 and Sergio Llull bagged 11.