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With more than a quarter of the regular season having gone by after Week 4's results, only three teams remain undefeated and two of those can't even claim exclusive hold of first place in their groups. The only team that can say that after four weeks is Lietuvos Rytas, who won its showdown with Aris TT Bank 77-70 on Wednesday to stand alone atop Group B. The other two undefeated teams, Panathinaikos and Real Madrid, share the top spot in Group C. Panathinaikos held off AXA F.C. Barcelona by 76-66 at home on Thursday, with Dimitrios Diamantidis again all over the floor for the reigning champs. Madrid welcomed back guard Louis Bullock, whose late-game fireworks helped defeat Partizan 75-64. Group A also features a tie at the top, where CSKA Moscow and Tau Ceramica are 2-1, both having knocked of teams they tied with. CSKA won at home against Olympiacos, just as Tau did against Montepaschi. In the same group, a first victory came the way of Prokom Trefl Sopot thanks to Tomas Van den Spiegel's monster performance on the road at Virtus VidiVici Bologna. Another first-time winner was Group C's Lottomatica Roma, which romped 81-57 over Brose Baskets in the team's first home game all season. Additional home winners gaining access to the middle of the table were Zalgiris in Group A, Efes, Unicaja and Cibona in Group B, while Fenerbahce of Group C had the week's only other road win besides that of Prokom. All those teams have 2-2 records. The week was punctuated by a new record, too, as Marcus Brown returned to the top of the Euroleague's all-time scoring list, with 2,063 points, thanks to 28 he scored as Zalgiris beat Union Olimpija.
The week started in Group A with a heavyweight battle that saw CSKA outlast Olympiacos 88-79 after a night of counterpunching. Each team lacked a superstar - Matjaz Smodis for CSKA, Arvydas Macijauskas for Olympiacos - but Ramunas Siskauskas and Theodoros Papaloukas filled those roles for the hosts down the stretch. They shared 14 points in a 16-7 finishing run while Lynn Greer of Olympiacos hobbled off late with a pulled muscle.
A team starving for victory, Prokom Trefl Sopot, got its first one in spectacular fashion, downing Virtus VidiVici by 75-87 in Bologna on Wednesday. Prokom rode the sixth-best individual performance in Euroleague history, by center Tomas Van den Spiegel, to its much-needed victory. Van den Spiegel had 27 points and 14 rebounds.
Home cooking worked for Zalgiris, too, as it outgunned visiting Union Olimpija 91-72 in a game that saw Marcus Brown return to the top of the Euroleague's all-time scoring list. Not only did the star guard score 28, but Brown shot well and added 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals to give him a 43 index rating – his best in 124 career Euroleague games. De Juan Collins added 17 points and 8 assists for Zalgiris.
Another heavyweight battle ended the week in Group A, as Tau Ceramica remained the kings of the home floor by beating Montepaschi 76-61. Will McDonald led Tau with 18 points and 8 rebounds as the club recorded its competition record 30th consecutive Euroleague win at the Fernando Buesa Arena.
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius remained undefeated and sent Aris TT Bank home with its first defeat after a 77-70 victory on Wednesday. Marijonas Petravicius continued his spectacular debut Euroleague season with 22 points and 6 rebounds to cancel out Aris star Jeremiah Massey, who managed to get his team within 1 in the final minute. With the pressure on, L. Rytas stepped up on defense and made its free throws to improve to 4-0.
Unicaja won its 10th straight home game by topping Maccabi Elite 93-70. It was sweet payback for head coach Sergio Scariolo's charges, who were swept by Maccabi last season, including a loss in January at the Martin Carpena Arena, Unicaja's last Euroleague loss in Malaga. Carlos Cabezas led the way for Unicaja with 21 points and German Gabriel added 16 off the bench. Cabezas is averaging 22 points in his last three appearances against Maccabi.
Drew Nicholas led a comeback charge as Efes Pilsen came back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Le Mans 66-63. Nicholas shot 5-for-8 from downtown on his way to 21 points.
Cibona was the only team in Week 4 to score in triple figures as it outgunned Armani Jeans Milano 100-91. Cibona's Larry Ayuso scored 30 points, including 15-for-15 free throw shooting, and Sam Hoskin added 18 points and 8 rebounds for his best game since turning his ankle in Week 1. Teenage sensation Danilo Gallinari was a bright spot for Milano with 20 points.
 In Group C, Real Madrid remained unbeaten with a solid 75-64 win over visiting Partizan Igokea as Louis Bullock returned from injury to score 15 points, including a killer four-point triple-plus-free throw when Partizan tried to rally late. Madrid outrebounded Partizan 36-31, becoming the first team all season to do so.
Panathinaikos had a different star step up down the stretch as it held off AXA FC Barcelona 76-66. Kostas Tsartsaris hit the big shots in the fourth quarter to hold off Barcelona, whose comeback charge was led by former Panathinaikos hero Jaka Lakovic. Final Four MVP Dimitrios Diamantidis led the Greens with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocked shots.
A super scoring effort by Marc Salyers of Chorale Roanne was not enough to lead his team to victory, as Fenerbahce Ulker picked up a key road win, 90-97. Salyers scored 40 points, tying him for the second-most ever in a Euroleague game, however Willie Solomon, who led Fenerbahce with 23 points, was the one celebrating in the end.
Lottomatica Roma played its first game at home and came away with its first victory, dumping Brose Baskets Bamberg 81-57. The backcourt of Roko-Leni and Jon Stefansson combined for 29 points, 7 assists and 6 steals for Roma.
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Friday, November 16, 2007
Euroleague.net
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