Euroleague 2015-16 Playoffs

Home - Euroleague 2015-16 Playoffs




Euroleague 2015-16 Playoffs

April 28, 2016 - MVP for April: Ekpe Udoh, Fenerbahce Istanbul

When Fenerbahce Istanbul needed him most, Ekpe Udoh was there. And then some. The first-year center played some of his best basketball in the playoffs to lead his team to a second consecutive Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four appearance. Despite missing star big man and Udoh’s frontcourt mate Jan Vesely to injury, Fenerbahce powered through defending Euroleague champion Real Madrid in the minimum three games. And no player had a bigger role in the triumph than Udoh, who was the playoffs leader in performance index rating and blocked shots and ranked second in rebounds. Those outstanding efforts, which included Udoh claiming MVP honors for both Games 2 and 3 of the playoffs, led to the center being recognized as Euroleague Basketball's MVP for the month of April. Udoh simply got stronger from game to game as his dominant display led Fenerbahce to an impressive series sweep. Read more here.

April 27, 2016 - Playoffs Game 5 MVP: Chris Singleton, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar

Chris Singleton came through with his best game of the season at the perfect time to lead Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar into the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four and become MVP of Game 5 of the playoffs. Singleton posted his first Euroleague double, 16 points and 12 rebounds, while posting a season-high performance index rating of 27, which was the best of all Game 5 participants. The big man didn't just have big numbers: he starred in the fourth-quarter run that led his team to an 81-67 victory over FC Barcelona Lassa and clinched a berth at the Final Four in Berlin. Singleton hit the go-ahead three-pointer among his 11 unanswered points and added an assist for a 14-0 game-breaking charge by Lokomotiv. On the night, he made all 3 of his two-point shots, 2 of 4 from downtown and 4 of 5 from the foul line and also contributed 2 assists and a steal in the memorable win. Read more here.

April 26, 2016 - Playoffs Game 5

In the final Turkish Airlines Euroleague game before the Final Four, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and FC Barcelona Lassa square off in Playoffs Game 5 to determine who will travel to Berlin to join CSKA Moscow, Fenerbahce Istanbul and Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz, each of whom swept their series last week. Read more here.

Here is the schedule for Game 5:

Playoff D

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. FC Barcelona Lassa 81-67

April 21, 2016 - Playoffs Game 4

After CSKA Moscow, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz and Fenerbahce Istanbul swept their best-of-five Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs, only two teams remain. FC Barcelona Lassa comes into Game 4 at home with a 2-1 series lead against Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar knowing a win sends Barcelona to Berlin, but if the visitors win and even the series, the two times will face off in a do-or-die Game 5 next week in Russia. Read more here.

Here is the schedule for Game 4:

Playoff D

FC Barcelona Lassa vs. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 80-92

April 20, 2016 - Playoffs Game 3 MVP: Ekpe Udoh, Fenerbahce Istanbul

Fenerbahce Istanbul center Ekpe Udoh put on another towering performance to help send his team back to the Final Four and earn himself the MVP award for Game 3 of the playoffs. The Turkish Airlines Euroleague rookie, who was the Game 2 co-MVP, too, picked up where he left off as Fenerbahce's series with Real Madrid moved to the Spanish capital. With Udoh doing the heavy lifting, Fenerbahce roared into the Final Four by completing a series sweep of last year's champs with a 63-75 road win. Udoh posted several personal bests as he compiled 15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks for a performance index rating of 33, the highest so far in this season's playoffs. Following Udoh on the hit parade was another player headed to the Final Four for the first time, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz guard Darius Adams, whose 24 points paced a 75-84 road win over Panathinaikos Athens for another series sweep. Read more here.

April 18, 2016 - Playoffs Game 3

The excitement of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs has reach do-or-die time! Game 3 on Monday and Tuesday offers a first chance for three teams with 2-0 starts in their best-of-five series to can punch their ticket to the Final Four. At the same time, their three opponents, all playing on their home courts, are faced with the necessity to win or see their Euroleague season ended. The action starts Monday, when Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade welcomes CSKA Moscow to Kombank Arena in the Serbian capital. The other three games are scheduled for Tuesday.

Here is the schedule for Game 3:

PLAYOFF A

Real Madrid vs. Fenerbahce Istanbul 63-75

PLAYOFF B

Panathinaikos Athens vs. Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz 75-84

PLAYOFF C

Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade vs. CSKA Moscow 71-78

PLAYOFF D

FC Barcelona Lassa vs. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 82-70

April 16, 2016 - Playoffs, Game 2 co-MVPs: Kyle Hines and Ekpe Udoh

A pair of centers – one who has done it all in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and a newcomer looking to match that success – led their teams to pivotal victories to share the MVP honor for Game 2 of the playoffs. Two-time champion Kyle Hines was the difference-maker as CSKA Moscow outlasted visiting Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 77-76 on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series. His 19 points were just 2 fewer than the career-high 21 that Hines scored in Game 1, while his 8-for-9 two-point shooting and 3-for-3 free throws provided the accuracy that CSKA needed to win by a single point. Ekpe Udoh, playing in the Euroleague playoffs for the first time, dominated at both ends of the floor as host Fenerbahce Istanbul handed defending champion Real Madrid its worst playoff loss this century, 100-78. Read more here.

April 14, 2016 - Playoffs Game 2: Four visitors aim to even series

Thursday and Friday bring about Game 2 for the 2016 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs. And the teams all have the same goal: winning. The four teams with home-court advantage all won the openers and look to head out to Game 3 on the road with 2-0 leads. However the visiting teams desperately want to return home with the series even at 1-1. The games are split evenly with two tipping on Thursday and two more on Friday. Read more here.

Here is the schedule for Game 2:

PLAYOFF A

Fenerbahce Istanbul vs. Real Madrid 100-78

PLAYOFF B

Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz vs. Panathinaikos Athens 82-78

PLAYOFF C

CSKA Moscow vs. Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 77-76

PLAYOFF D

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. FC Barcelona Lassa 66-92

April 14, 2016 - Playoffs, Game 1 MVP: Milos Teodosic, CSKA Moscow

On a night when the league’s best scorer cooled down, CSKA Moscow had nothing to worry about. Milos Teodosic came to the rescue with 23 points, which set a personal best in the playoffs, to lead CSKA to an 84-74 victory over Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade and claim MVP honors for Game 1 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs. Teodosic made 4 of 5 two-pointers and 4 of 5 three-pointers, collected 6 rebounds and dished 6 assists in compiling a performance index rating of 28, which was the highest among players on winning teams in the playoffs openers. Panathinaikos Athens center Miroslav Raduljica also posted an index rating of 28 in the Greens’ 84-68 loss at the hands of Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz. Raduljica scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed 6 rebounds. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar big man Anthony Randolph played a big role in his club’s playoffs debut, a 66-61 win over FC Barcelona Lassa. Read more here.

April 12, 2016 - Playoffs Game 1: Everyone wants to strike first

The playoffs are here! After two stages and 24 games, eight teams remain standing, but not one of them has accomplished what they targeted yet. These best-of-five playoff series are the final hurdle before the 2016 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four next month in Berlin and all eight of these worthy contenders – a list that includes three teams from last season’s Final Four – are determined to get there at all costs. Everyone wants to strike first and there is a good reason why; over the past four seasons, 15 of the 16 teams that won Game 1 of their playoffs series went on to reach the Final four. Read more here.

Here is the schedule for Game 1:

PLAYOFF A

Fenerbahce Istanbul vs. Real Madrid 75-69

PLAYOFF B

Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz vs. Panathinaikos Athens 84-68

PLAYOFF C

CSKA Moscow vs. Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 84-74

PLAYOFF D

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. FC Barcelona Lassa 66-61

April 12, 2016 - Inside the Playoffs

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. FC Barcelona Lassa

Not only did Lokomotiv make the most three-pointers in the Top 16, but it became the first team ever to hit double-digit three-point shots in 10 Top 16 games. The previous record was seven games with 10 or more threes shots by EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and Zalgiris Kaunas in 2013-14. It is also two more games than what the other three playoff teams from Top 16 Group E combined for during the entire Top 16 campaign; Fenerbahce had four, Zvezda two and Panathinaikos one. In those 10 games, Lokomotiv had a 7-3 record. During the Top 16, Lokomotiv had 12 games in which at least five different players knocked down at least 1 three-point shot, and in eight in which at least six players made a shot from downtown, including eight players in the Top 16 finale. In the Round 6 road game at Unicaja Malaga, Lokomotiv made 16 three-point shots, which is tied for most in a single Top 16 game this season, and tied for second most in the Top 16 over the past seven years. Lokomotiv’s average of 11 threes per game was the most in Top 16 history, in front of Laboral, which averaged ’s 10.7 threes in the 2010-11 campaign. Read more here.

Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz vs. Panathinaikos Athens

This is the sixth consecutive season the six-time Euroleague champions have qualified for the playoffs, and in those six seasons they have done it with five different coaches. In each of the past four campaigns, Panathinaikos has had a different head coach lead the team in the playoffs. Zeljko Obradovic coached the Greens to their sixth title in 2011, and made a Final Four appearance the following year after beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in a memorable five-game series. Since then, Panathinaikos has not have home-court advantage in the playoffs, and has not returned to the Final Four. After Obradovic stepped down, Argiris Pedoulakis took over and led Panathinaikos into the playoffs, where they lost in another five-game classic series against FC Barcelona. In 2014, Fragiskos Alvertis was the interim head coach that got Panathinaikos into the playoffs, only to lose in five games against CSKA Moscow. The same opponent, CSKA, ousted Panathinaikos last year in four games when Dusko Ivanovic led the team. This year it is Sasha Djordjevic, and he will try to overcome what no other Panathinaikos coach has done before him – make the Final four without the home-court advantage in the playoffs. He and his players are 5-7 on the road this season. Read more here.

Fenerbahce Istanbul vs. Real Madrid

Fenerbahce won 11 games in the Top 16, but found many different ways to get those wins. For example, it recorded the club’s biggest road win in more than a decade when it blew out Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 65-88 at Hala Pionir, one of the toughest road venues on the continent. Fenerbahce also won with the most and least total points in games this season, both of which came on the road, too. Coach Zeljko Obradovic’s men scored the second-most points in club history to beat Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul 100-106, whose total of 206 points is tied for the most scored in a single game this season. On the other hand, Fener edged Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 52-55, which was the lowest-scoring game of the season and the second-fewest points a team scored to win a game in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague this decade. Fenerbahce trailed by a point entering the final minute of that contest, but that was only one of its come-from-behind wins in this Top 16. As a matter of fact, Fenerbahce trailed at some point in the second half in six of its Top 16 victories, and each of those games was decided by 7 points or less. It also trailed on the road against rival Anadolu Efes Istanbul 54-45 with three minutes to go in the third quarter, while on home floor Fenerbahce trailed in the second half of four Top 16 games it went on to win. Fenerbahce was down 53-62 with eight minutes to go against Lokomotiv and trailed by 10 early in the third quarter against Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade. Read more here.

CSKA Moscow vs. Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade

CSKA Moscow has one of the best offenses in Euroleague history. Its 92.08 points per game this season is a record, to date, just ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s 92.04 from the 2004-05 season. CSKA is also on pace to break the record for most total points scored in a single season, held by Real Madrid, which scored 2,656 for an average of 85.7 in the 2013-14 campaign. CSKA's 20 assists per game are the third-best average all-time, too. In the Top 16, CSKA not only ranked first in points scored (92.8 ppg.), which is the best all-time for that phase, but also in two-point (56.3%), and three-point (43.1%) shooting accuracy. During one stretch, CSKA scored at least 90 points in seven games in a row. It also reached the 90-point mark in nine of its first 11 games. CSKA has been especially impressive in the Russian capital, where it starts this series against Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade with home-court advantage. Since a home loss to Unicaja Malaga in Round 5 of the regular season, CSKA has scored at least 90 points in every home game and seven of its last eight wins there have come by double-digit margins. Read more here.

April 8, 2016 - The 2015-16 Playoffs at a glance

Fenerbahce Istanbul vs. Real Madrid

Fenerbahce Istanbul

Dominant through the regular season and the Top 16, Fenerbahce was the first team this season to secure a playoff berth and Coach Zeljko Obradovic's men clinched first place in Top 16 Group E before any other team guarenteed a playoff spot.

Real Madrid

The champs waited till the last minute, but snuck into the playoffs with a victory in the Top 16 finale. Now Los Blancos target a fourth consecutive Final Four. Madrid has most of its weapons back from its title run and in form led by Sergio Llull and Sergio Rodriguez alongside the now healthy Rudy Fernandez in the backcourt and Gustavo Ayon at center.

CSKA Moscow vs. Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade

CSKA Moscow

With one of the best perimeter attacks in competition history, CSKA Moscow has put on an offensive display all season long to win both its regular season and Top 16 groups. That has resulted in the home-court advantage for this series, which is a true advantage; CSKA is 11-1 at home this season.

Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade

This team from the Serbian capital and its fanatic fans will see the playoffs for the first time ever. Zvezda overcame a slow start to get through its regular season group before a solid Top 16 campaign led to a spot in the playoffs. On the way, Stefan Jovic set a single-game assists record, while forward Quincy Miller and center Maik Zirbes paced the team’s offense.

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar vs. FC Barcelona Lassa

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar

With one of the competition’s best defenses, Lokomotiv dominated its regular season group, which featured two other playoff teams –Barcelona and Panathinaikos – and then surged into the playoffs for the first time in club history. Coach Georgios Bartzokas won the title with Olympiacos Piraeus three years ago, and has Lokomotiv allowing the fewest points.

FC Barcelona Lassa

Barcelona makes its 11th consecutive playoff appearance with a team that boasts balance, experience and depth. Coach Xavi Pascual’s roster features three former champs, two past Eurocup winners and two All-Euroleague selections. Tomas Satoransky and Alex Abrines are enjoying breakout seasons in the backcourt alongside scoring king Juan Carlos Navarro.

Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz vs. Panathinaikos Athens

Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz

After a two-year hiatus, Laboral Kutxa returns to the playoffs and this time it does so with home-court advantage, which could be a decisive factor; Laboral is 11-1 at home this season. With veteran center, reigning champ and the league’s top rebounder Ioannis Bourousis dominating inside, Laboral leads the league in rebounding.

Panathinaikos Athens

After early struggles and splitting the first 14 games of the Euroleague campaign, six-time champion Panathinaikos Athens enters the playoffs having won nine of its last 11 games. The Greens have done it defensively by forcing turnovers, and have been fueled offensively by late-season addition Elliot Williams, who turned into top scorer on a balanced offense. Read more here.

Our Partners