Olimpija from Milan dropped out of the race with Partizan, but that’s why Efes is getting closer to just winning the difference!
We have another team in the Euroleague playoffs! Maccabi basketball players defeated Olympia from Milan 85:66 on their court and thus became the fifth team in the Euroleague quarterfinals after Olympiakos, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Monaco. This is also great news for Partizan, as another team has dropped out of the race for the black and whites. Olimpija from Milan has two matches left to play until the end of the regular part of the Euroleague, and given that they now have 14 wins, while Partizan has 17, they have no chance of catching up with Željko Obradović’s team.
In the first match of the day, the European champion Anadolu Efes routinely won over the already lamented Virtus 86:67 and thus completely caught up with the teams above. This was the 16th victory of Efes, which means that they are now tied in the table with Baskonia and Žalgiris for the number of victories, although they have played one match more.
The Croatian Ante Žižić led Ergin Ataman’s team to victory with 24 points and 6 rebounds, Tibor Plajs added 14 points, while Elajdža Bryant scored 13 with 11 rebounds. Vasilije Micić scored 7 points, but had 11 assists. From the second half, Niko Menion had 17 points and Semi Odželeje 11 points, while Miloš Teodosić was not in the team.
This means that of the teams that are in black and white, Baskonia, Žalgiris, Efes, Crvena zvezda and Valencia are still “chasing” them. Before the match with Real, Partizan has 17 victories, while Baskonia, Žalgiris and Efes are behind them with 16, while Red Star and Valencia with three rounds before the end and with 14 victories each have only a theoretical chance to overtake the black and whites.
As for Zvezda, with a win at Asvelo on Friday, they could reach 15 wins and stay in the race for a place in the quarterfinals. However, not everything depends on them and they need the defeats of Žalgiris and Baskonia.