Baskonia dominates Real Madrid to keep EuroLeague playoffs hope alive
Baskonia decimated Real Madrid at Wizink Center on Friday night and remained alive in the race for the EuroLeague playoffs.
The Basques rallied past the “Whites” (64-84) and snapped a four-game losing streak on the road.
Baskonia took a double-digit lead from the opening quarter (15-28) and never looked back.
Real cut the deficit to three at halftime, behind a 19-9 run of their own (34-37).
The visitors, though, outscored their opponents 30-47 in the second half to cruise to the win.
Baskonia improved to 11-13 in the standings, whereas Real dropped to 15-9.
Panathinaikos triumphed over rivals Olympiacos in the second Greek Clasico of the EuroLeague season (77-88).
The “Greens” were perfect from the free-throw line (25/25) and led by double digits multiple times.
The visitors endured the comeback of the “Reds” late in the game to seal the deal.
Panathinaikos climbed to 9-14 in the standings, winning for the fourth time in the last six EuroLeague games.
At the same time, Olympiacos lost its fourth straight and dropped to 11-13.
The visitors also have the tie-breaker over their arch rivals.
A 13-0 run in the fourth quarter was enough for Fenerbahce in order to defeat Zenit Saint Petersburg at home (92-84).
In a hard-fought battle, the Turks relied on their offense in the fourth quarter (26 points) to claim the victory.
Fenerbahce extended its winning streak to nine games in the EuroLeague and improved to 14-10.
On the other hand, Zenit now is on a three-game losing streak in the EuroLeague and dropped to 13-9.
Bayern Munich came back from a 16-point deficit and edged ALBA Berlin at home in overtime (101-95).
The Bavarians trailed from the start of the game and were down by 13 midway through the fourth quarter.
Yet, they hit several big shots to force an overtime and survive a late thriller against ALBA.
Bayern maintained a playoff push, being at 15-9. On the other hand, ALBA has won only once in the last seven EuroLeague games and now has an 8-16 record.
ASVEL Villeurbanne maintained its momentum and registered its fourth straight win in the EuroLeague.
This time, the French defeated Armani Milano at home (78-69) and put an end to the Italians’ six-game winning streak.
ASVEL now is at 10-14 on the EuroLeague table, whereas Armani dropped to 15-8.