 The 2002-03 Euroleague Basketball regular season was as balanced as it could have been, with two teams - Real Madrid and Pau-Orthez - stepping down despite respective 6-8 records. Regular season champions Benetton Treviso, CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos joined best second-ranked team FC Barcelona as the top-seeded teams in the Top 16 draw. Benetton and Barcelona dominated Group A, but Efes Pilsen, Skipper Bologna and Cibona also qualified way in advance. Panathinaikos used a seven-game winning streak - downing all its Group B opponents - to finish first ahead of Tau Ceramica, Union Olimpija, Unicaja, Maccabi and Montepaschi Siena, that thrashed Buducnost in Game 14 to reach the Top 16. CSKA entered the Top 16 with the best regular season record, 12-2, while Ulker, Olympiacos, Virtus and Adecco Asvel also qualified. Milos Vujanic of Partizan was the regular season top scorer (25.8 ppg.), Mirsad Turkcan of CSKA led all rebounders (12.2 rpg.) while Ed Cota of Zalgiris lead this phase in assists (6.5 apg.).
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 1 |
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Defending champion Panathinaikos opened the regular season with a convincing 87-71 home win against Buducnost. Antonis Fotsis led the winners with 25 points. Asvel Basket upset Virtus 84-88, Tau defeated Maccabi 85-79 behind 31 points from Hanno Mottola while Benetton thrashed Pau-Orthez 94-73 with 24 points from newcomer Trajan Langdon.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 2 |
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Only six teams were undefeated after two regular season games. Efes Pilsen edged Benetton Treviso 84-83 in Group A on a game-winning shot by Ender Arslan. In Group C, CSKA Moscow thrashed Partizan 93-57 while Adecco Asvel edged Idea Slask 87-80 to stay unbeaten. Stevin Smith had 15 of his 20 points in the second half to lead Asvel.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 3 |
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Barcelona, Tau Ceramica and CSKA Moscow lead all three regular season groups as the only undefeated teams. Barcelona downed Pau-Orthez 84-62 with 16 points from Patrick Femerling, Tau edged Montepaschi 90-85 behind 31 points from Luis Scola while CSKA topped Olympiacos 74-67. Darius Songaila led CSKA with 17 points.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 4 |
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FC Barcelona needed two overtimes to edge Efes Pilsen 91-92 on late free throws by Juan Carlos Navarro. Kaspars Kambala had 41 points for Efes, tying the all-time Euroleague record. Adecco Asvel confirmed its good moment with a 99-87 home win against CSKA while Unicaja edged Maccabi 86-89 with 22 points from Milan Gurovic and Louis Bullock.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 5 |
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Buducnost registered its first win in Group B by downing Zalgiris 106-102 at home with 27 points from John Brown. Barcelona became the only team undefeated with a 86-85 home win against Benetton with 24 points from Juan Carlos Navarro. A big triple by Omer Onan allowed Efes to steal a 72-73 road win against Skipper Bologna.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 6 |
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There were no more undefeated teams in the Euroleague, as Cibona thrashed Barcelona 94-77 in Group A behind 21 points from Niksa Prkacin. Tau downed Zalgiris 113-88 at home in Group B with 23 points from Andres Nocioni. In Group C, CSKA edged Virtus 83-85 in Bologna on game-winning free throws by J.R. Holden.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 7 |
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Barcelona, Tau Ceramica and CSKA Moscow led their respective regular season groups at the halfway mark of this phase. CSKA thrashed Idea Slask 73-45 in Group C, Barcelona topped Alba 81-74 in Group A while Tau registered a 71-54 road loss against Unicaja. Olimpija downed Panathinaikos 77-70 behind 16 points from Jasmin Hukic.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 8 |
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Benetton climbed atop the Group A standings by edging Pau-Orthez 88-93 on the road. Trajan Langdon led 6 Benetton players in double digits with 20 points. In a big Group B showdown, Olimpija edged Unicaja 83-82 in Ljubljana on a game-winning floating layup by Vlado Ilievski. He also led the winners with 21 points.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 9 |
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Partizan rejoined the Top 16 race in Group C by topping CSKA Moscow 93-81 in Belgrade with 28 points from Milos Vujanic. Also in Group C, Virtus defeated Real Madrid 91-82 behind 23 points from Matjaz Smodis. Lubos Barton had 20 points to lead Skipper Bologna to a key 77-80 road win against Alba Berlin.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 10 |
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FC Barcelona, Benetton Treviso and CSKA Moscow were the first teams to clinch a Top 16 berth in the 2002-03 Euroleague. Barcelona beat Pau-Orthez 72-84 with 20 points from Sarunas Jasikevicius, Benetton thrashed Alba 107-81 behind 18 points from Tyus Edney while CSKA edged Olympiacos 77-79 in Greece. Nikos Hatzivrettas led CSKA with 17 points.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 11 |
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Four more teams - Panathinaikos, Tau, Union Olimpija and Skipper Bologna - advanced to the Top 16 in Game 11. Skipper Bologna won its fifth straight game by downing Pau-Orthez 85-75 with 19 points from Gianluca Basile. Meanwhile, Olimpija thrashed Zalgiris 76-55 behind 23 points from Marino Bazdaric.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 12 |
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Efes Pilsen, Cibona, Ulker and Unicaja advanced to the Top 16, leaving only five spots available. Unicaja downed Montepaschi 73-79 in Siena with 24 points from Louis Bullock. Cibona thrashed Alba 90-72 with 20 points from Marijan Mance. Meanwhile, CSKA won Group C by downing Real Madrid 80-93 with 29 points from J.R. Holden.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 13 |
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Only one team - Virtus Bologna - reached the Top 16, as the race to next the next phase was closer then ever. Maccabi edged Buducnost 80-89 behind 18 points from Quincy Lewis to be all but qualified. Olympiacos beat Real Madrid 71-68 while Asvel topped Partizan 104-103 in overtime to stay alive in the Top 16 race.
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REGULAR SEASON GAME 14 |
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The regular season came to an end with some shocking results, as Asvel, Olympiacos, Maccabi and incredibly enough, Montepaschi reached the Top 16. Montepaschi overwhelmed Buducnost 112-49 at home to become the best sixth-seeded team (6-8 +40) ahead of Real Madrid (6-8 -19) and Pau-Orthez (6-8 -48). Mirsad Turkcan and Alphonso Ford each had 24 points.
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