The 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague regular season reaches its halfway mark this week, which means Game 5 could be a pivotal one for a lot of teams. It certainly started that way on Wednesday with five pivotal battles In Groups A and B. Of the five games, three were decided by a total of 9 points – including one that went to overtime – one saw CSKA Moscow remain perfect and another witnessed KK Zagreb CO earning its first win ever in the competition.
CSKA downed Unicaja 77-66 in Group B in the first tip-off of the week as Milos Teodosic scored a season-high 19 points and Andrei Kirilenko turned in another masterful performance. In another Group B showdown,
KK Zagreb edged Zalgiris Kaunas 80-78 in a thriller that saw 11 fourth-quarter lead changes. Krunoslav Simon had 22 points and Josh Heytvelt a double-double for the Croatian champs, who now have a fighting chance in the second half of the regular season. And in the Game of the Week,
Brose Baskets beat Panathinaikos 79-76 as Predrag Suput scored 19 in front of a packed house in Freak City. Those results left CSKA leading the group with a two-win margin and Unicaja and Panathinaikos, who meet next Thursday in the Game of the Week, tied for second at 3-2. In Group C,
Maccabi Electra bested Belgacom Spirou 69-59 by holding the visitors to 5 fourth-quarter points. Lior Eliyahu paced the Israeli champs with 15.
Real Madrid torched Anadolu Efes 104-84 as Jaycee Carroll scored 19, Rising Star Nikola Mirotic 17 and Sergio Rodriguez dished 10 assists. In an epic comeback,
Partizan mt:s stunned EA7 Emporio Armani Milano 65-69 after trailing by 19 in the fourth quarter. A 1-20 run gave Partizan the win in front of a stunned Milano crowd. Milan Macvan led the winners with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The results leave Maccabi atop the group at 4-1, but one win separating the next four teams. In Group D, undefeated
FC Barcelona Regal spurned Galatasaray Medical Park 66-70 after the hosts rallied from a 20-point deficit to within 2. Juan Carlos Navarro continued his march towards becoming the all-time leading Euroleague scorer with 12 points. He needs 14 more next week to accomplish the feat.
Unics Kazan crushed Union Olimpija 81-51 as Terrell Lyday shined with 22 points and 7 assists and Mike Wilkinson netted 20. And
Montepaschi Siena trumped Asseco Prokom 84-73 at home led by Rimas Kaukenas’s 15 points and 14 plus 5 assists from Bo McCalebb. Week 6 promises to be another great one with two teams facing an opportunity to already reach the Top 16, a first place showdown in Group A and the Group B leader out to avenge its only loss. Don’t miss it!