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2004-05 Euroleague, phase by phase
 Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv won it all again! Maccabi became the first team to win consecutive Euroleague titles since 1991 by downing Tau Ceramica 90-78 in the Euroleague Final at Olympiyski Arena, Moscow. Final Four MVP Sarunas Jasikevicius led the winners with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Saras won his third consecutive Euroleague title while Maccabi successfully defended its crown, being the first player and club, respectively, to do it since Split lifted the trophy three consecutive times from 1989 to 1991. Maccabi had won the Euroleague trophy in 1977 and 1981 before doing it again the previous season in Tel Aviv. The team also won a SuproLeague title in 2001, as well as reaching six other finals. Head coach Pini Gershon won his third consecutive continental title with Maccabi. The intense title game, in which Tau never gave up, was the best way to round a perfect weekend of top-notch basketball. Tau had upset CSKA 78-85 in one of the semifinals, Maccabi downed Panathinaikos 91-82 in an outstanding game while the Greens needed double overtime to top CSKA 91-94 in the Third Place game.
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EUROLEAGUE FINAL: MACCABI ELTE VS. TAU CERAMICA |
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Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv wrote a brilliant new page in European club history by downing Tau Ceramica 90-78 in the Euroleague Final in front of a sellout crowd of 13,500 in the Olympiyski Arena, Moscow. Maccabi kept the Euroleague title for the first time since Split won three in a row from 1989 to 1991. Sarunas Jasikevicius led the winners in yet another unforgottable perfomance: 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, enough to be chosen as the Final Four MVP. Maceo Baston added 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, Nestoras Kommatos became a main factor with 13 points off the bench, Nikola Vujcic also had 13 and 7 assists while Anthony Parker added 12 for the back-to-back Euroleague champion. Luis Scola led Tau with 21 points and 9 rebounds, Jose Manuel Calderon added 16 while Arvydas Macijauskas and Travis Hansen each had 13. Tau trailed 62-60 late in the third quarter but Jasikevicius led a 7-0 run that sealed the outcome, 78-66, midway through the final period, allowing a sea of yellow fans to celebrate that their team remained as the best club in Europe!
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3RD PLACE GAME: CSKA MOSCOW VS. PANATHINAIKOS |
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Panathinaikos needed one of the biggest comebacks in Final Four history to finish third by edging CSKA 91-94 in double overtime at Olympiysky Arena. Panathinaikos rallied from a 22-point deficit to get a prestigious win behind 28 points from Mike Batiste. Dimitris Diamantidis, the Euroleague's Best Defender Trophy winner, made a steal and layup with the game tied late in the second overtime to save the victory for Panathinaikos. Ibrahim Kutluay had 19 points for the Greens. Marcus Brown had 21 points for CSKA, Demos Dikoudis 17, David Andersen 14. Theo Papaloukas dunked off a midcourt steal by J.R. Holden to send the game to overtime, 78-78. Free throws made and missed meant the overtime ended in a tie, too, at 84-84, before Panathinaikos finished off its comeback in the second.
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SEMIFINAL: MACCABI ELITE VS. PANATHINAIKOS |
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Maccabi reached the 2005 Euroleague final by downing Panathinaikos 91-82 in the first semifinal of the Final Four at Olympiyski Arena in Moscow. Maccabi kept its chances alive to become the first team to succesfully defend the Euroleague title since Split did it 1991. Derrick Sharp paced the winners with a Euroleague career-high 20 points off the bench. Maceo Baston and Tal Burstein each added 14 while Anthony Parker and Sarunas Jasikevicius got 13 apiece for Maccabi. Ibrahim Kutluay led Panathinaikos with 17 points while Vlado Scepanovic and Dimitris Diamantidis each added 16 for the Greens. Maccabi's will to provide showtime showed in the opening play, as Jasikevicius just needed seven seconds to feed Baston for an alleyoop layup. Panathinaikos trailed most of the way but briefly got a 54-55 lead midway through the third quarter. Sharp, Parker and Jasikevicius stepped up to make Maccabi seal the outcome minutes before the final buzzer.
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SEMIFINAL: CSKA MOSCOW VS. TAU CERAMICA |
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Tau Ceramica provided one of the biggest upsets ever in the Euroleague Final Four by beating mighty CSKA 78-85 in the second semifinal of the Final Four in the Olympiysky Arena, Moscow. CSKA had been almost unbeatable all season long, reaching the Final Four with a 21-1 record. Arvydas Macijauskas led the winners with 23 points, including a shot-clock beating three-pointer that sealed the outcome down the stretch. Calderon added 13 and Kornel David posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, 6 of them in the final period. Luis Scola had 10 points despite playing less than 21 minutes due to foul trouble. J.R. Holden led CSKA with 20 points. Demos Dikoudis added 13 points, Marcus Brown 12 and David Andersen 10. A 2-11 run that Macijauskas capped with that critical corner triple broke the game open, 64-73, with less than 3 minutes to go. Tau made it to its second final, as it reached the 2001 title series in Euroleague Basketball's original season.
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FINAL FOUR
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| May 6-8, 2005 |
| SEMIFINAL 1 |
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| Maccabi Elite 91 |
| Panathinaikos 82 |
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| SEMIFINAL 2 |
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| CSKA Moscow 78 |
| Tau Ceramica 85 |
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| 3RD PLACE GAME |
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| CSKA Moscow 91 |
| Panathinaikos 94 |
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| FINAL |
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| Maccabi Elite 91 |
| Tau Ceramica 82 |
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