Sergio Llull - Real Madrid

SLIDESHOW Top 16, Game 1

EBTV Rewind with Sasha Djordjevic

One group winner and two second-place teams from the regular season were the first victims of the intensified finals-like atmosphere as the Top 16 blasted off this week. The calling cards left by three of the regular season's best teams could not have been clearer: Unicaja dominated Lottomatica Roma on the road, 75-88, as a spectacular Marcus Haislip starred with 22 points; Tau Ceramica manhandled visiting Asseco Prokom 99-77 as Igor Rakocevic, Mirza Teletovic and Sergi Vidal combined for 62; and CSKA Moscow did it with defense, winning 48-66 as Fenerbahce Ulker suffered the lowest point total by a home team in Top 16 history. However, the Top 16 showed its teeth, too, as the regular season team with the best record fell hard when Real Madrid edged archrival Regal FC Barcelona 85-83 in comeback fashion with Sergio Llull and Louis Bullock scoring 18 points each. Mighty guests went home disappointed elsewhere, too, as Armani Jeans Milano outlasted Olympiacos 76-74 as Luca Vitali and David Hawkins split 30 points while Cibona rallied from 12 points behind to stop mighty Montepaschi Siena 88-81 with Earl Calloway posting 24 points. Two more big winners, both of whom finished third in the regular season, remained to be counted: Panathinaikos pulled away to an 81-63 victory over Partiza Belgrade as Nikola Pekovic punished his former team with 26 points; similarly, Maccabi Electra blasted Alba Berlin 96-65 as Lior Eliyahu and D'Or Fischer combined for 43 points, 16 rebounds. Considering that eventual playoff qualifiers went 19-5 in Top 16 opening games over the previous three seasons, Week 1's eight winners certainly got off on the right foot of the Euroleague's second round. Check out the PHOTOS

Group E viewpoints

Top 16 Week 1 tri-MVPs: Nikola Pekovic, D'or Fischer, Lior Eliyahu
The Top 16 started with a rare occurrence in the weekly race for the best individual performance rating - tri-MVPs! For just the fourth time all decade, three players tied for the weekly MVP honor, each with a performance index rating of 28, just a point above two more players.

	RANKING
	PEKOVIC, NIKOLA 28 FISCHER, D'OR 28 ELIYAHU, LIOR 28 CALLOWAY, EARL 27 NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS 27
	POINTS
	PEKOVIC, NIKOLA 26 CALLOWAY, EARL 23 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 22 TELETOVIC, MIRZA 22 HAISLIP, MARCUS 22
	TOTAL REBOUNDS
	BURKE, PAT 11 ERDEN, SEMIH 11 GIGLI, ANGELO 10 MORRIS, TERENCE 10 BARAC, STANKO 10
	ASSISTS
	ARROYO, CARLOS 10 COOK, OMAR 5 VUJCIC, NIKOLA 5 HOLDEN, J.R. 5 PAPALOUKAS, THEODOROS 5

GROUP E W-L PTS Tau Ceramica 1-0 +22 AJ Milano 1-0 +2 Olympiacos 0-1 -2 Asseco Prokom 0-1 -22

GROUP F W-L PTS Maccabi Electra 1-0 +31 Real Madrid 1-0 +2 Regal Barcelona 0-1 -2 Alba Berlin 0-1 -31

GROUP G W-L PTS Panathinaikos 1-0 +18 Unicaja 1-0 +13 Lottomatica Roma 0-1 -13 Partizan 0-1 -18

GROUP H W-L PTS CSKA Moscow 1-0 +18 Cibona 1-0 +7 Montepaschi Siena 0-1 -7 Fenerbahce Ulker 0-1 -18