SLIDESHOW Top 16, Game 4

EBTV Rewind with Flavio Tranquillo

Three big road winners became the first three to reach the Quarterfinal Playoffs in Top 16, Week 4. Panathinaikos, Partizan Belgrade and Real Madrid are all through to the next stage, while four more teams could potentially join them next week. In all five teams won road games in another exciting week of action. The only group in which both playoff berths have been issued is Group G. Stephanne Lasme scored 20 as Partizan edged Unicaja 74-78 in overtime on Wednesday to move to the brink of a second straight playoff berth. And then Nikola Pekovic netted 20 as Panathinaikos blasted Lottomatica Roma 71-90 on Thursday, sending both the Greens and Partizan through. The two meet in the Serbian capital next week with the top spot and home-court advantage in the quarterfinals on the line. In Group F, Real Madrid held off Maccabi Electra 69-73 for its fifth straight win and first in Tel Aviv in over a decade. Raul Lopez scored 17 – including several key fourth-quarter points – to pace Madrid. Regal FC Barcelona defeated Alba Berlin 57-75 and its star guard, Juan Carlos Navarro, reached the exclusive 2,000 points club as he led the team with 18. Madrid visits Barcelona next week in a game that could decide the group. Tau Ceramica routed Armani Jeans 74-107 behind a dominant Tiago Splitter to bring the Spanish champ’ record in Group E to 3-1. Nikola Vujcic shined with 20 as Olympiacos bested Asseco Prokom 84-71 to remain tied with Tau. The only group to play both its games on Wednesday was Group H, where CSKA Moscow dismantled Montepaschi Siena 95-71 to claim the group lead at 3-1. Team captain Matjaz Smodis shook off an ankle injury that clouded his participation to fire in a season-high 22 points as the reigning champs moved within one win of a playoff berth. Cibona trashed Fenerbahce Ulker 64-86 on the road behind Davir Kus’s 19 to get to 2-2. Cibona will advance next week if it beats Montepaschi on the road. Crunch time is now as every remaining game increase in importance as the Road to Berlin gets shorter!

Group E viewpoints

Top 16 Week 4 MVP: Tiago Splitter
A triumphant return from personal misfortune and family tragedy saw Tiago Splitter earn MVP honors for Week 4. He led Tau Ceramica to a road win at AJ Milano with his performance index rating of 28.

	RANKING
	SPLITTER, TIAGO 28 VUJCIC, NIKOLA 27 LOGAN, DAVID 25 LORBEK, ERAZEM 25 JAABER, IBRAHIM 24
	POINTS
	ARROYO, CARLOS 26 LOGAN, DAVID 24 SMODIS, MATJAZ 22 LASME, STEPHANE 20 VUJCIC, NIKOLA 20
	TOTAL REBOUNDS
	LORBEK, ERAZEM 12 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 11 HERVELLE, AXEL 10 LASME, STEPHANE 8 VAN DEN SPIEGEL, TOMAS 8
	ASSISTS
	COOK, OMAR 8 MCINTYRE, TERRELL 7 HOLDEN, J.R. 6 PAPALOUKAS, THEODOROS 6 SADA, VICTOR 6

GROUP E W-L PTS Tau Ceramica 3-1 +70 Olympiacos 3-1 +39 AJ Milano 2-2 -47 Asseco Prokom 0-4 -62

GROUP F W-L PTS *Real Madrid 4-0 +28 Regal Barcelona 3-1 +52 Maccabi Electra 1-3 -12 Alba Berlin 0-4 -68

GROUP G W-L PTS *Panathinaikos 4-0 +74 *Partizan 3-1 -5 Unicaja 1-3 -4 Lottomatica Roma 0-4 -65

GROUP H W-L PTS CSKA Moscow 3-1 +50 Montepaschi Siena 2-2 -5 Cibona 2-2 -7 Fenerbahce Ulker 1-3 -38

* Qualified to Quarterfinals Playoffs