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The last week of the Top 16 may go down in Euroleague history as a change-of-the-guard moment like few others as fully half of the eight playoff qualifying spots were decided in perhaps unexpected fashion. Two of the youngest teams in the entire competition seized transformational home victories to advance at the same time that last year's champion, another Final Four participant and the would-be host team of this year's season finale were all eliminated. For all but two of the Top 16 teams, survival or home-court advantage in the playoffs came down to Week 6. In Group D, the biggest bomb dropped when Partizan knocked out defending champion Panathinaikos with a memorable 82-73 victory before a euphoric home crowd in Belgrade. Milt Palacios scored 24 points, including a killer layup near the finish, while Dusan Kecman added 16 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. The Group D winner was decided when Montepaschi Siena bested Efes Pilsen 80-67 behind Romain Sato’s season-high 25 points. Although tied for first place with Partizan with 4-2 records, Montepaschi was group winner based on a better head-to-head point difference between them. In Group E, Fenerbahce Ulker vaulted into the playoffs by handing Tau Ceramica its first Top 16 loss, 75-59. Willie Solomon matched his season-high with 28 points, hitting 5 of 6 three-pointers, to lead Fenerbahce, whose entire frontcourt during the Top 16 was 21 years old or younger. Fenerbahce's victory meant that Aris TT Bank topping Lietuvos Rytas 83-74 did not affect the Group E standings. In Group F, a great comeback was completed and the would-be Final Four host deflated when Olympiacos topped Real Madrid 72-63 as Panagiotis Vasilopoulos had 14 points. Olympiacos became just the third team in the four-season playoffs era to begin the Top 16 with a 0-2 record and still advance, while Madrid was the second to start the Top 16 with two victories and get eliminated. Group F's winner was Maccabi, which topped Zalgiris 80-66 on Yotam Halperin's 17 points and 8 assists. Group G's last qualification went to Barcelona, a 64-62 winner over CSKA, which had already clinched first place, as Jaka Lakovic had 14 points. Theo Papaloukas of CSKA dished 10 assists in the game, giving him a new Top 16 record of 42. If CSKA's last-second three-pointer had fallen, Barcelona would have been eliminated, but since it did not, Unicaja's 79-58 home win over Lottomatica went for naught. Barcelona and Unicaja finished tied and won against each other on their home courts, but Barcelona did so by a single point more, and advanced on the strength of that difference. The best-of-three quarterfinals, scheduled for April 1, 3 and 10, look like this: Montepaschi Siena vs. Fenerbahce UIker, Tau Ceramica vs. Partizan Igokea, Maccabi Elite vs. AXA F.C. Barcelona, CSKA Moscow vs. Olympiacos. It marks the first time in three seasons that the Final Four is sure to have two new teams as compared to the previous season before the playoffs even start.
Montepaschi Siena wrapped up the top spot in Group D when it beat Efes Pilsen 80-67. the Italian champs will next meet Turkish champion Fenerbahce Ulker in the best-of-three Quarterfinal Playoffs. Romain Sato scored a season-high 25 to lead the Italian champs, who advanced to the Quarterfinal Playoffs for the first time.
Partizan Igokea advanced to the Euroleague Basketball Quarterfinal Playoffs for the first time in dramatic fashion by knocking off reigning champion Panathinaikos 82-73. After losing to the Greens three times by a total of 7 points this season, the crowd at Pionir Arena and the play of Milt Palacio and Dusan Kecman were instrumental in the win. Palacio netted 24 points and Kecman scored 16, grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds and matched his best effort with 5 assists. The key stat was on the glass where the Serbian champs outrebounded Panathinaikos 37-18. The Greens' loss means that for the first time since the Quarterfinal Playoffs were introduced, the defending champion will not be there.
Fenerbahce Ulker crashed the Quarterfinal Playoffs by beating Tau Ceramica 75-59. Willie Solomon inspired Fener early, going 4 for 4 from behind the arc in the first quarter and Fener raced ahead and led throughout the game. Solomon matched his season-high with 28 points and surpassed legendary scorer Alphonso Ford for 26th place on the all-time Euroleague Basketball scoring charts with 1,212 points. The loss ended Tau's 12-game Top 16 winning streak and ended the team’s hopes of becoming the sixth side to go undefeated in a Top 16 group.
Aris TT Bank ended its Euroleague season on a high note by beating Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius 83-74. Jeremiah Massey had another monster game with 28 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks as Aris stopped a four-game home-court slide with a win for its passionate fans.
Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv won Group F by beating Zalgiris Kaunas 80-66. The Israeli champs got big games from Yotam Halperin (17 points and 8 assists), Nikola Vujcic and Terence Morris, whose 6 blocked shots were 1 less than the Euroleague Top 16 single-game record, but the big news was team captain Derrick Sharp's best game in months. Sharp hit 3 three-pointers to move back into the top 10 on the Euroleague Basketball all-time list with 206.
Olympiacos Piraeus prevailed over Real Madrid 72-63 to advance to the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Olympiacos became just the third team in the four-season playoffs era to start the Top 16 with a 0-2 record and still advance, while Madrid was the just second to start the Top 16 with two victories and get eliminated. Panagiotis Vasilopoulos set a season-high and matched his career-high with 14 points for the red-hot Reds. Olympiacos won despite the fact that its top two scorers, Lynn Greer and Marc Jackson, were both held to single digits in points.
AXA FC Barcelona edged CSKA Moscow 64-62 to advance to the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Jaka Lakovic led the way in a close game that went to the wire. Victory wasn't assured until J.R. Holden missed a potentially game-winning triple at the buzzer, which if had gone it would have sent Barca home. Despite the loss, a number of CSKA players hit individual milestones as Theo Papaloukas dished 10 assists as he set the Top 16 assists record with 42 and big man David Andersen grabbed 8 rebounds to move into No. 5 on the all-time rebounding chart with 814 – only 4 fewer than Gregor Fucka for fourth place.
Unicaja topped Lottomatica Roma 79-58 as both teams' Euroleague Basketball seasons came to a close. Unicaja's Quarterfinal Playoff hopes died with the news that Barcelona had beaten CSKA, taking second place in Group G. Jiri Welsch and Terrel Castle led the way with 15 points each for Unicaja as the team finished the season undefeated at home. In all, Unicaja has won 18 consecutive Euroleague games at the Martin Carpena Arena, which is the second-longest active home-court streak in the competition to CSKA.
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Euroleague.net
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