April 13, 2013 - Playoffs Game 2 bwin MVP: Viktor Khryapa, CSKA Moscow
Viktor
Khryapa pieced together another impressive all-around performance
Friday in leading CSKA Moscow to a 90-68 rout of Caja Laboral and a 2-0
lead in their best-of-five playoffs series. Khryapa’s strong stat line
also resulted in him winning Playoffs Game 2 bwin MVP honors and in
becoming the fifth CSKA player to claim bwin MVP honors this season,
joining Sonny Weems, Milos Teodosic, Nenad Krstic and Sasha Kaun.
Khryapa compiled a performance index rating of 25, which was the best
among the 81 players to take the floor in Game 2 of the playoffs.
Khryapa compiled 9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block
in just 25 minutes for the Russian champs. Real Madrid hero Sergio
Llull just missed sharing the top spot with Khryapa after posting a 24
index in a 75-63 victory over Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. Read more here.
April 12, 2013 - Game 2
Real
Madrid 75 - 63 Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
Real
Madrid took a 2-0 lead in its Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs
series with Maccabi Tel Aviv by collecting a 75-63 victory at the
Community of Madrid Sports Palace in Game 2 on Friday. Sergio Llull
nailed 6 three-pointers en route to scoring a career high 26 points to
lead Madrid, while Jaycee Carroll added 3 triples for 14 points and
Nikola Mirotic chipped in with 10 points in the win. David Logan came
off the bench for 19 points for Maccabi, which will look to stay alive
as it hosts Game 3 in Israel on Tuesday. Shawn James collected 13
points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks while Ricky Hickman and Nik
Caner-Medley both scored 10 points in the defeat. Madrid never trailed,
racing out to a 16-6 start and never letting up. Maccabi managed to
keep the deficit in a respectable range much of the night, but was
never able to mount a threatening run. Read more here.
Olympiacos Piraeus 71 - 53 Anadolu Efes
Reigning
Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus moved within
one victory from returning to the Final Four after routing Anadolu Efes
Istanbul 71-53 at Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday night.
Olympiacos now holds a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five playoffs series,
which moves to Istanbul for Game 3 – and if necessary Game 4 – next
week. A potential decisive Game 5 would be played again in Piraeus.
After falling behind early, with some stingy defense and with Vassilis
Spanoulis leading the way, the Reds went on a 28-8 charge to take 35-26
halftime lead. Olympiacos never looked back, and sealed the deal with a
13-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Spanoulis led the way
with 15 points and 8 assists. Kyle Hines scored 12 points, Pero Antic
collected 11 points plus 7 rebounds, and Stratos Perperoglou
contributed with 8 points plus 6 rebounds. Read more here.
CSKA Moscow 90 - 68 Caja Laboral Vitoria
CSKA
Moscow struggled in the first quarter, but when it got going, the
Russian champs put the game away. CSKA dominated Caja Laboral Vitoria
90-65 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five playoffs
series Friday at Alexander Gomelskiy CSKA Universal Sports Hall in the
Russian capital. The hosts scored almost as will, making 31 of 43
two-point shots. The hosts also dominated the boards 35-24. Sasha Kaun,
Nenad Krstic and Zoran Erceg all scored 16 to lead the winners. Milos
Teodosic added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, while Vladimir
Micov netted 11 and Viktor Khryapa tallied 9 points, 9 rebounds and 5
assists. Maciej Lampe, who missed the entire second quarter with foul
trouble, led the Caja Laboral attack with 19 points. Fernando San
Emeterio scored 13 and Fabien Causeur 12. Read more here.
April 11, 2013
Barcelona
Regal 65 - 66 Panathinaikos Athens
Dimitris
Diamantidis and Stephane Lasme came through with the game on the line
to lift Panathinaikos to a series-tying 65-66 victory over Barcelona
Regal on Thursday night at Palau Blaugrana. Former MVP Diamantidis
nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining and Lasme
rejected scoring king Juan Carlos Navarro’s runner in the final seconds
as the Greens squared the best-of-five series at 1-1. Action resumes in
the Greek capital next week. James Gist paced Panathinaikos with 14
points and 7 rebounds, Michael Bramos followed with 13 points,
Diamantidis scored 10 and Lasme tallied 9 points, 7 boards and three
blocks as the Greens snapped Barcelona’s 12-game winning streak.
Navarro led the hosts with 20 points and teenage sensation Alex Abrines
netted 10. The game went back and forth early. Read more here.
April 11, 2013 - Playoffs, Game
2: Double or nothing!!
After
a pretty quick turnaround, the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs resume with Game 2
in one series on Thursday and three more Friday. The games are a mere
48 hours after the openers, all of which were won by the home teams.
The second games in the best-of-five series are crucial for all.
Another victory for the homes teams puts them up 2-0, needing just one
win to advance to next month’s Final Four in London, although Game 3 –
and, if necessary, Game 4 – is played on the other team’s home floor.
On the flip side, any visiting team that wins Game 2 not only evens the
series, by steals home-court advantage! Thursday features a Game of the
Week broadcast of Barcelona Regal against Panathinaikos Athens at 20:45
CEST. Game 1 was a thriller for the ages, only decided after overtime.
How will the extended minutes played by older stars like Juan Carlos
Navarro and Sarunas Jasikevicius of Barca and Dimitris Diamantidis of
Panathinaikos affect them? Read more here.
Here is the
schedule for Game 2 of Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs:
PLAYOFF A
CSKA
Moscow vs. Caja Laboral Vitoria 90:68
PLAYOFF
B
Olympiacos
Piraeus vs. Anadolu Efes 71:53
PLAYOFF
C
FC
Barcelona Regal vs. Panathinaikos Athens 65:66
PLAYOFF
D
Real
Madrid vs. Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 75:63
April 10, 2013 - Playoffs Game 1
bwin MVP: Rudy Fernandez, Real Madrid
Rudy
Fernandez was the star of the night for Real Madrid as it pounded
Maccabi Electra 79-53 in the most lopsided of the four Game 1s to the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague playoffs. And when the buzzer sounded, he
was also the bwin MVP for Game 1 of the playoffs with a performance
index rating of 22 – the best of all 94 players to suit up for playoffs
openers. Rudy scored 15 points by making 4 of 5 two-point shots, 2 of 5
from downtown and splitting a pair of free throws. He added 6 rebounds,
2 assists, 1 block, 5 fouls drawn and a few highlights to boot in
lifting Los Blancos. Four more players tied for the next best index
rating with 20: Nenad Krstic of CSKA Moscow, Georgios Printezis of
Olympiacos Piraeus and Semih Erden and Kerem Gonlum, both from Anadolu
Efes Istanbul. Read more here.
April 9, 2013 - Game 1
Real
Madrid 79 - 53 Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv
Real
Madrid thoroughly dominated the final three quarters to beat visiting
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 79-53 in the opening game of their
best-of-five Turkish Airlines Euroleague playoffs series on Wednesday
night at the Community of Madrid Sports Palace in the Spanish capital.
Rudy Fernandez scored 15 points and Sergio Rodriguez tallied 10 points
and 10 assists to lead the winners, who also host Game 2 on Friday.
Madrid outrebounded Maccabi, 44-28 – including 17 offensive rebounds,
made 11 three-pointers at 50% - compared to 4 at 22.2% for the
visitors, and its bench outscored Maccabi’s 33-16. Maccabi raced out to
a surprising 12-point lead after a Sylven Landesberg tripled early in
the second quarter, but it was all Madrid the rest of the way. The
hosts finished the half on a 24-1 tear, led 38-27 at halftime and never
let up, pushing the lead to 29 in the closing minutes of an impressive
win. Read more here.
Olympiacos Piraeus 67 - 62 Anadolu Efes
Reigning
Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus pulled out a
dramatic 67-62 win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Wednesday in the
opening game of their best-of-five playoff series. Olympiacos also
hosts Game 2 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday night before
the series moves to Istanbul next week. In a game that did not feature
a double-digit lead, Georgios Printezis sparked a 7-0 run near the end
of the third quarter for Olympiacos to take the lead for good. But the
visitors hung around, cut it to 65-62 with 50 seconds to go and relied
on their defense to get the shot at overtime. However, Kyle Hines came
away with an offensive rebound and secured a win for Olympiacos.
Printezis led in victory with a career-high of 26 points on 4-for-7
three-point shooting, while Vassilis Spanoulis had 9 points, 8 assists
plus 6 rebounds for the winners. Read more here.
CSKA Moscow 89 - 78 Caja Laboral Vitoria
CSKA
Moscow struck first in its best-of-five Turkish Airlines Euroleague
playoffs series by downing Caja Laboral Vitoria 89-78 in Game 1 on
Wednesday. CSKA, which hosts Game 2 on Friday, raised its all-time
playoffs home record to 12-1. Laboral can only afford one more loss and
will try to avoid a 2-0 deficit, which no team has been able to
overcome in Euroleague history. Sonny Weems paced the winners with 19
points. Milos Teodosic added 17, while Nenad Krstic and Sasha Kaun each
had 16 for CSKA. Fabien Causeur led Vitoria with 17 points on 8-of-8
two-point shooting. Andres Nocioni added 16 points and 9 rebounds,
Maciej Lampe scored 12 points and Milko Bjelica 10 for the guests.
Teodosic shined early as Zoran Erceg and Viktor Khryapa combined for
the points in a 7-0 run that gave CSKA a 15-6 margin, enough for the
hosts to keep a 26-19 lead after 10 minutes.
Barcelona Regal 72 - 70 Panathinaikos Athens
In
a tense thriller that either team could have won twice, FC Barcelona
Regal survived a tough challenge on its own court to defeat
Panathinaikos Athens 72-70 in overtime Tuesday in the opening game of
their best-of-five playoff series. Barcelona, which extended its
Euroleague winning streak to 13 games, also hosts Game 2 at Palau
Blaugrana on Thursday. Juan Carlos Navarro's three-pointer with 2
minutes left in overtime proved the game-winner as Barcelona rallied
from 6 points behind with under 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter to
avoid defeat. Navarro led the winners with 14 points, hitting 4 of 10
three-pointers, while Victor Sada rallied Barcelona with all 13 of his
points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Ante Tomic had a
double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds, plus a huge block late in
overtime, while Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 11 and dished 5 assists.
Read more here.
April 9, 2013 - Playoffs, Game
1: The Road to London continues!
Fresh
off an exciting Top 16, the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague enters its most decisive stages
when four best-of-five playoff series open on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The winners of each series will reach the Final Four in London from May
10 to 12, but first, there's a lot of dramatic basketball to be played.
The playoffs have a 2-2-1 format: the team with home-court advantage
hosts Game 1 and 2, plays on the road in Games 3 and - if needed - in
Game 4, but if Game 5 is required, would go back home to play in front
of its fans. Game 1 winners have advanced to the Final Four 26 out of
32 times since playoffs became part of the competition format in
2004-05. However, six of the teams in this year's playoffs - all except
Olympiacos and Real Madrid - have been able to lose an opening game and
still make the Final Four in the past. It all starts in Barcelona,
Spain, where FC Barcelona Regal faces Panathinaikos Athens on Tuesday
at 20:00 CET. Read more here.
Here is the schedule for
Game 1 of Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs:
PLAYOFF A
CSKA
Moscow vs. Caja Laboral Vitoria 89:78
PLAYOFF
B
Olympiacos
Piraeus vs. Anadolu Efes 67:62
PLAYOFF
C
FC
Barcelona Regal vs. Panathinaikos 72:70
PLAYOFF
D
Real
Madrid vs. Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 79:53
April 5, 2013
Playoff
A, analysis: CSKA Moscow vs. Caja Laboral
Russian champion CSKA
Moscow enters the playoffs on a six-game winning streak and as the Top
16 Group E champion. A year after reaching the Turkish Airlines
Euroleague title game last season, the club has been among the
competition’s toughest teams this year under the tutelage of Coach
Ettore Messina, back for his second stint with CSKA. The squad recorded
the second-best average performance index rating in the league and was
the top three-point shooting team. Claiming the home-court advantage
for the playoffs is of great significance for CSKA; it is 20-2 in the
Russian capital over the past two seasons. Read more here.
Playoff B, analysis: Olympiacos vs. Anadolu Efes
The reigning Turkish
Airlines Euroleague champions proved their toughness once again in the
Top 16. Olympiacos Piraeus won straight five road games en route to a
9-5 record and second place in Group F. The team claimed home-court
advantage in the playoffs, which is significant. The Reds target their
fourth Final Four appearance in five seasons. During that run,
Olympiacos is 7-1 in playoff home games. Although this is the first
year for head coach Georgios Bartzokas, he has nine active players from
the 2012 championship squad and two of the newcomers boast Euroleague
crowns in their bags too. Read more here.
Playoff C, analysis: FCB Regal vs. Panathinaikos
Barcelona Regal marches
into the Euroleague playoffs with the most-impressive resume of any
team in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague this season. Coach Xavi
Pascual’s men have reeled off 12 straight wins and their 22 wins
overall this season are the most in the competition. Barcelona clinched
first place in Group F and home-court advantage in the playoffs before
and other team in the group had even advanced to the playoffs.
Barcelona has impressed at both ends of the floor; it has allowed the
fewest points and the lowest average performance index rating in the
league, while finishing first in both points scored and index. Read
more here.
Playoff D, analysis: Real Madrid vs. Maccabi Electra
The winningest team in European basketball history,
Real Madrid is back in the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons
and looking to make it to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four
for the second time in that span. Madrid won its first six Top 16 games
and was in contention for a top spot in Group E throughout the Top 16
before finishing second with a 10-4 record. Madrid is among the top
offensive teams in the league, but its greatest success has come from
its tremendous rebounding and ability to take care of the basketball.
Read more here.
April 5, 2013 - Playoffs, Game 1
Schedule
CSKA Moscow vs. Caja Laboral, April 10, 18:00 CET
Olympiacos vs. Anadolu Efes, April 10, 20:00 CET
Barcelona Regal vs. Panathinaikos, April 9, 20:00 CET
Real Madrid vs. Maccabi Electra, April 10, 20:45 CET
Viktor
Khryapa pieced together another impressive all-around performance
Friday in leading CSKA Moscow to a 90-68 rout of Caja Laboral and a 2-0
lead in their best-of-five playoffs series. Khryapa’s strong stat line
also resulted in him winning Playoffs Game 2 bwin MVP honors and in
becoming the fifth CSKA player to claim bwin MVP honors this season,
joining Sonny Weems, Milos Teodosic, Nenad Krstic and Sasha Kaun.
Khryapa compiled a performance index rating of 25, which was the best
among the 81 players to take the floor in Game 2 of the playoffs.
Khryapa compiled 9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block
in just 25 minutes for the Russian champs. Real Madrid hero Sergio
Llull just missed sharing the top spot with Khryapa after posting a 24
index in a 75-63 victory over Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv. Read more 
Real
Madrid took a 2-0 lead in its Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs
series with Maccabi Tel Aviv by collecting a 75-63 victory at the
Community of Madrid Sports Palace in Game 2 on Friday. Sergio Llull
nailed 6 three-pointers en route to scoring a career high 26 points to
lead Madrid, while Jaycee Carroll added 3 triples for 14 points and
Nikola Mirotic chipped in with 10 points in the win. David Logan came
off the bench for 19 points for Maccabi, which will look to stay alive
as it hosts Game 3 in Israel on Tuesday. Shawn James collected 13
points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks while Ricky Hickman and Nik
Caner-Medley both scored 10 points in the defeat. Madrid never trailed,
racing out to a 16-6 start and never letting up. Maccabi managed to
keep the deficit in a respectable range much of the night, but was
never able to mount a threatening run. Read more 
Reigning
Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus moved within
one victory from returning to the Final Four after routing Anadolu Efes
Istanbul 71-53 at Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday night.
Olympiacos now holds a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five playoffs series,
which moves to Istanbul for Game 3 – and if necessary Game 4 – next
week. A potential decisive Game 5 would be played again in Piraeus.
After falling behind early, with some stingy defense and with Vassilis
Spanoulis leading the way, the Reds went on a 28-8 charge to take 35-26
halftime lead. Olympiacos never looked back, and sealed the deal with a
13-1 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Spanoulis led the way
with 15 points and 8 assists. Kyle Hines scored 12 points, Pero Antic
collected 11 points plus 7 rebounds, and Stratos Perperoglou
contributed with 8 points plus 6 rebounds. Read more 
CSKA
Moscow struggled in the first quarter, but when it got going, the
Russian champs put the game away. CSKA dominated Caja Laboral Vitoria
90-65 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five playoffs
series Friday at Alexander Gomelskiy CSKA Universal Sports Hall in the
Russian capital. The hosts scored almost as will, making 31 of 43
two-point shots. The hosts also dominated the boards 35-24. Sasha Kaun,
Nenad Krstic and Zoran Erceg all scored 16 to lead the winners. Milos
Teodosic added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, while Vladimir
Micov netted 11 and Viktor Khryapa tallied 9 points, 9 rebounds and 5
assists. Maciej Lampe, who missed the entire second quarter with foul
trouble, led the Caja Laboral attack with 19 points. Fernando San
Emeterio scored 13 and Fabien Causeur 12. Read more 
Dimitris
Diamantidis and Stephane Lasme came through with the game on the line
to lift Panathinaikos to a series-tying 65-66 victory over Barcelona
Regal on Thursday night at Palau Blaugrana. Former MVP Diamantidis
nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining and Lasme
rejected scoring king Juan Carlos Navarro’s runner in the final seconds
as the Greens squared the best-of-five series at 1-1. Action resumes in
the Greek capital next week. James Gist paced Panathinaikos with 14
points and 7 rebounds, Michael Bramos followed with 13 points,
Diamantidis scored 10 and Lasme tallied 9 points, 7 boards and three
blocks as the Greens snapped Barcelona’s 12-game winning streak.
Navarro led the hosts with 20 points and teenage sensation Alex Abrines
netted 10. The game went back and forth early. Read more 
Rudy
Fernandez was the star of the night for Real Madrid as it pounded
Maccabi Electra 79-53 in the most lopsided of the four Game 1s to the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague playoffs. And when the buzzer sounded, he
was also the bwin MVP for Game 1 of the playoffs with a performance
index rating of 22 – the best of all 94 players to suit up for playoffs
openers. Rudy scored 15 points by making 4 of 5 two-point shots, 2 of 5
from downtown and splitting a pair of free throws. He added 6 rebounds,
2 assists, 1 block, 5 fouls drawn and a few highlights to boot in
lifting Los Blancos. Four more players tied for the next best index
rating with 20: Nenad Krstic of CSKA Moscow, Georgios Printezis of
Olympiacos Piraeus and Semih Erden and Kerem Gonlum, both from Anadolu
Efes Istanbul. Read more 
Reigning
Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus pulled out a
dramatic 67-62 win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Wednesday in the
opening game of their best-of-five playoff series. Olympiacos also
hosts Game 2 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Friday night before
the series moves to Istanbul next week. In a game that did not feature
a double-digit lead, Georgios Printezis sparked a 7-0 run near the end
of the third quarter for Olympiacos to take the lead for good. But the
visitors hung around, cut it to 65-62 with 50 seconds to go and relied
on their defense to get the shot at overtime. However, Kyle Hines came
away with an offensive rebound and secured a win for Olympiacos.
Printezis led in victory with a career-high of 26 points on 4-for-7
three-point shooting, while Vassilis Spanoulis had 9 points, 8 assists
plus 6 rebounds for the winners. Read more 
CSKA
Moscow struck first in its best-of-five Turkish Airlines Euroleague
playoffs series by downing Caja Laboral Vitoria 89-78 in Game 1 on
Wednesday. CSKA, which hosts Game 2 on Friday, raised its all-time
playoffs home record to 12-1. Laboral can only afford one more loss and
will try to avoid a 2-0 deficit, which no team has been able to
overcome in Euroleague history. Sonny Weems paced the winners with 19
points. Milos Teodosic added 17, while Nenad Krstic and Sasha Kaun each
had 16 for CSKA. Fabien Causeur led Vitoria with 17 points on 8-of-8
two-point shooting. Andres Nocioni added 16 points and 9 rebounds,
Maciej Lampe scored 12 points and Milko Bjelica 10 for the guests.
Teodosic shined early as Zoran Erceg and Viktor Khryapa combined for
the points in a 7-0 run that gave CSKA a 15-6 margin, enough for the
hosts to keep a 26-19 lead after 10 minutes.
In
a tense thriller that either team could have won twice, FC Barcelona
Regal survived a tough challenge on its own court to defeat
Panathinaikos Athens 72-70 in overtime Tuesday in the opening game of
their best-of-five playoff series. Barcelona, which extended its
Euroleague winning streak to 13 games, also hosts Game 2 at Palau
Blaugrana on Thursday. Juan Carlos Navarro's three-pointer with 2
minutes left in overtime proved the game-winner as Barcelona rallied
from 6 points behind with under 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter to
avoid defeat. Navarro led the winners with 14 points, hitting 4 of 10
three-pointers, while Victor Sada rallied Barcelona with all 13 of his
points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Ante Tomic had a
double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds, plus a huge block late in
overtime, while Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 11 and dished 5 assists.
Read more 
Fresh
off an exciting Top 16, the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines 
