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As expected, an already dramatic Top 16 saw the intensity rise for the start of its second half in Week 4, which was highlighted by a first team breaking down the door to the Quarterfinal Playoffs. That team was none other than Tau Ceramica, whose down-to-the-wire 87-84 win over visiting Lietuvos Rytas left it as the only undefeated team in the competition. Zoran Planinic played all 40 minutes for the winners, scoring 16 points to go with 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Not only is Tau the first playoff qualifier, but can also clinch first place in Group E – and home-court advantage for the best-of-three quarterfinals – with one more victory. The rest of Group E is unpredictable after previously winless Aris TT Bank staved off elimination by stopping host Fenerbahce Ulker 59-60 as Jeremiah Massey scored 18 points, including the game-winning free throw with 9 seconds left. Aris was one of four road winners in Week 4, among them a pair of favorites who took exclusive hold of first place in their groups. In Group F, Real Madrid beat Zalgiris 69-83 behind 18 points from Felipe Reyes and uncanny 5-for-6 three-point shooting, including two end-of-quarter buzzer beaters, by Kerem Tunceri. Madrid was still looking at a first-place tie, however, until Olympiacos rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to shock Maccabi Elite 82-87 in Tel Aviv. Lynn Greer scored 27 points for the Reds, who are now tied with Maccabi in second place. First place in Group G now belongs to CSKA, a blowout 54-82 winner at Roma as Ramunas Siskauskas had 25 points. CSKA led 6-26 and never looked back as Theo Papaloukas tied a Top 16 record with 12 assists. A second win in a row by Unicaja, which beat Barcelona 62-61 on a killer drive by Carlos Cabezas, his first points of the entire Top 16, left those two teams tied behind CSKA in Group G. Another two-game home win streak belongs to Group D's Partizan, which rallied late to beat previously undefeated Montepaschi 78-75, denying the visitors early qualification to the playoffs. Milt Palacio's 26 points were key for Partizan. Group D had another dramatic home comeback when defending champion Panathinaikos surged past Efes Pilsen 74-65 with a game-ending 20-8 run. Mike Batiste scored 20 points for the winners and teamed with Vassilis Spanoulis to take over the game in the last five minutes. With two games left in the Top 16, no team is eliminated yet, leaving 15 chasing the remaining seven playoff berths – all except the one already claimed by undefeated Tau Ceramica.
Panathinaikos held off a spirited charge from Efes Pilsen to record a 74-65 win and return to the fight for a ticket to the Quarterfinal Playoffs. The win increased the Greens’ win streak at the Athens Indoor Olympic Hall to 15 games. Mike Batiste led Panathinaikos in scoring with 20 points for the second straight game. It marked the first time in the big man’s six Euroleague seasons in which he’s reached 20 points in back-to-back games – a career spanning 109 Euroleague game. Efes big man Kerem Gonlum grabbed 6 rebounds in defeat, surpassing Tanoka Beard for 10th place on the all-time Euroleague Basketball rebounding list with 665 boards.
Milt Palacio scored 14 of his season-high 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead Partizan Igokea to an impressive 78-75 come-from-behind win over Montepaschi Siena. It was the Italian champs’ first loss in the Top 16. The victory coupled with last week’s win over Efes Pilsen marked the first time Partizan has won back-to-back wins in the Top 16 and the first time it has won successive games after the Euroleague regular season since 1998 – the last time it reached the Final Four.
Tau Ceramica became the first team to advance to the Quarterfinal Playoffs by topping Lietuvos Rytas 87-84 behind a well-balanced team-effort. Guards Zoran Planinic and Pablo Prigioni led six Tau scorers in double figures with 16 points apiece. For Prigioni, best known for his passing and defense, the points matched his career-high even though he played in 106 previous Euroleague games. Despite the win, Tau saw two players – Sergi Vidal and Simas Jasaitis – hobble off the floor with injuries.
Aris TT Bank picked up its first win in the Top 16 by holding off Fenerbahce Ulker 59-60 on the road at the buzzer. Jeremiah Massey was big with 18 points and 8 rebounds for Aris, whose win ensured that every team in the Top 16 this season will have at least one victory. Rookie Omer Asik paced Fener with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocked shots, but his potential game-winning layup came after the buzzer. Fenerbahce is now 4-5 at home this season and together with Aris are the only teams in the Top 16 with a losing record at home.
Real Madrid took a major step toward the Quarterfinals Playoff by beating Zalgiris 69-83. Madrid shot better from beyond the arc than it did from close range, making 11 of 20 three-pointers (55%) compared to 16 of 38 two-pointers (42.1%). Kerem Tunceri was a main reason, going 5 for 6 from downtown en route to a season-high 16 points. Felipe Reyes led the winners with 18 points.
Lynn Greer surely wishes he could face Maccabi Tel Aviv more often. The Olympiacos guard earned weekly MVP honors for the second time in a month – both against the Israeli champs – in leading the Reds to an 82-87 road win that returned them to the Group F race. Greer, who leads the Top 16 with 22.5 points per game, has averaged 26.5 points on 93.8% free-throw, 66.7% two-point and 50% three-point shooting, plus 5.5 assists and 9 fouls drawn against Maccabi.
CSKA Moscow blasted Lottomatica Roma 54-82 to leap into the top spot in Group G. Ramunas Siskauskas matched his Euroleague career-high with 25 points, originally set against Panathinaikos in November 2004. The win was CSKA’s 11th straight victory over an Italian opponent, dating back to the 2005-06 season opener, when it lost 69-74 against Montepaschi.
Carlos Cabezas returned from injury to score his first basket of the Top 16 on a last-second layup that lifted Unicaja over AXA FC Barcelona 62-61. His only points of the game lifted Unicaja to its 17th straight win at Martin Carpena Arena. An unusual stat in the game was the fact that both team’s reserves outscored their respective starters. Unicaja’s bench produced 37 points, 16 rebounds and 6 of the team’s 7 assists, while Barca got 34 points, 17 rebounds and 7 assists from its reserves.
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Euroleague.net
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