Quarterfinal Playoffs: Game 2 review
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Final Four door opens only to Montepaschi!
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 Although it produced the first Final Four team, Game 2 of the best-of-three Quarterfinal Playoffs was not exactly generous when it came to handing out tickets to Madrid. Indeed, for the second time in the four-year history of the round, three series are going to the limit after they were evened up 1-1 on Thursday. That makes the big winner of the playoffs so far none other than Montepaschi Siena, which swept young Fenerbahce Ulker 2-0 in games with a no-doubt-about-it 65-86 road win in Istanbul. Montepaschi came out smoking in both halves and let its vaunted defense take care of the rest to reach the club's third Final Four, following appearances in 2003 and 2004. Bootsy Thornton and Ksistof Lavrinovic scored 18 points each for the winners, while Terrell McIntyre had 16 and 6 assists. Montepaschi will meet the playoff winner between Maccabi Tel Aviv and AXA F.C. Barcelona in one semifinal in Madrid on May 2. Those two teams are knotted at 1-1 after a long-time Euroleague star had his biggest scoring night ever as AXA F.C. Barcelona turned back visiting Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv 83-74 to even their series 1-1. Gianluca Basile drilled 6 three-pointers among 34 points, the most in his 156-game Euroleague career, for the winners. Pepe Sanchez and Roger Grimau added 11 points each while Fran Vazquez and Mario Kasun anchored the defense with 16 rebounds between them. Omri Casspi had 18 points for Maccabi, Terence Morris a double-double of 16 and 11. The other semifinal in Madrid is up for grabs still between four teams in two series tied at 1-1. One of those is now even after Partizan rocked Tau 76-55 in Belgrade on thursday. Only six Partizan players scored in the game, but the rest helped on defense enough to limit Tau's double-digit scorers to one: Igor Rakocevic with 15 points. At the same time, Nikola Pekovic led the winners with 19 points and Novica Velickovic had a double-double of 17 points, 12 rebounds. Uros Tripkovic added 14 points and Milenko Tepic 11 for the winners, who needed only 9 points from Milt Palacio, who received his March MVP award before the game. At the same time, CSKA turned the tables on Olympiacos with a 73-84 road win in Piraeus, sending that series back to Game 3 in Moscow. CSKA trailed by 10 points after one quarter but took control by halftime and never looked back. CSKA's big guns of Ramunas Siskauskas, Trajan Langdon and Matjaz Smodis combined for 55 points, while Teo Papaloukas dished 7 assists and helped hold Olympiacos star Lynn Greer to just 8 points. Game 3s in those series, do-or-die, are coming next Wednesday and Thursday, April 9 and 10. Don't miss it! |
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Game 2, Tuesday, April 3, 2008
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GROUP QUARTERFINAL 1
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STATS
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REPORT
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QUOTES
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PREVIEW
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WATCH
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Fenerbahce Ulker vs. Montepaschi
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GROUP QUARTERFINAL 2
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STATS
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REPORT
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QUOTES
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PREVIEW
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WATCH
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Partizan Igokea - Tau Ceramica
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GROUP QUARTERFINAL 3
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STATS
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REPORT
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QUOTES
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PREVIEW
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WATCH
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AXA FC Barcelona vs. Maccabi Elite
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GROUP QUARTERFINAL 4
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STATS
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REPORT
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QUOTES
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PREVIEW
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WATCH
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Olympiacos vs. CSKA Moscow
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STANDINGS Top 16
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GROUP D
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W-L
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PTS
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1-Montepaschi Siena*
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4-2
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+38
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2-Partizan Igokea*
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4-2
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+10
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Panathinaikos
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3-3
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-16
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Efes Pilsen
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1-5
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-32
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GROUP F
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W-L
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PTS
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1-Maccabi Elite*
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4-2
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+20
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2-Olympiacos*
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4-2
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+7
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Real Madrid
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3-3
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-4
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Zalgiris
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1-5
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-23
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GROUP E
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W-L
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PTS
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1-Tau Ceramica*
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5-1
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+43
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2-Fenerbahce Ulker*
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3-3
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+5
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Lietuvos Rytas
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2-4
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-1
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Aris TT Bank
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2-4
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-47
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GROUP G
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W-L
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PTS
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1-CSKA Moscow*
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4-2
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+62
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2-AXA FC Barcelona*
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3-3
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+10
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Unicaja
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3-3
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-6
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Lottomatica Roma
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2-4
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-66
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* Qualified to playoffs
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Euroleague.net
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