Euroleague Top 16 Round 2, Friday

After Real Madrid, CSKA, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Olympiacos all grabbed wins on Thursday in the Euroleague Top 16, the gauntlet was firmly thrown down to the other giants of the European game. Fenerbahce responded with a convincing road win over Nizhny Novgorod, but there could only be one winner from Barcelona and Panathinaikos as the Euroleague heavyweights went blow for blow in Spain. In the end, the hosts made their home court advantage count with a narrow victory.

In the rest of the action, Anadolu Efes Istanbul outlasted Unicaja Malaga in Turkey, while Zalgiris Kaunas put in a good showing on the way to beating in form ALBA Berlin at home.

Group E
Barcelona and Panathinaikos clashed in Group E on Friday as the Spanish hosts took the spoils, beating the Greek giant 80-76. The Catalan club will feel lucky to take the win though as Panathinaikos controlled the hardwood for long periods of the game. In the end, Marcelinho Huertas took Barcelona to the next level with a memorable third quarter in which he drained six huge triples in 10 minutes. With the game locked 37-37 through halftime, Huertas put in a game-winning contribution from which Barcelona never looked back.

Zalgiris Kaunas saw off ALBA Berlin in fine fashion, with the Lithuanian stalwarts outgunning their German counterparts 75-62 at home. Berlin has been in good form in recent weeks and opened the Euroleague Top 16 with a win. However, the German’s were brought back down to earth by a barnstorming opening from Zalgiris, with the hosts pacing to a 14-4 lead from the tip-off. The remainder of the game would be much closer, but the Kaunas team had done enough in those opening exchanges.

Group F
Fenerbahce looked formidable in tearing up Nizhny Novgorod on the road in Russia. The Turkish team called upon usual suspects Andrew Goudelock and Bogdan Bogdanovic to propel them to glory. The pair combined for over 50% of Fener’s points, with Goudelock nabbing 23 points and Bogdanovic hauling 17. The win handed the visitors their first victory of the Top 16 this season after last week’s overtime loss to CSKA Moscow. As for Nizhny, they were outclassed on the night, but a win over EA7 Milan last time outputs the Russians on 1-1 alongside Fenerbahce.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul is becoming the dark horse of this season’s Euroleague campaign. The Turkish outfit backed up last week’s road win over Laboral Kutxa with a 74-70 victory over Unicaja Malaga. The Spanish club is currently topping Liga Endesa, so the Malaga based club is not to be underestimated. And so it proved as they provided Efes a stern test in Istanbul and led by 15 points at the long break (34-49). A huge 23-8 run in the third act leveled the game for the hosts and they carried the momentum through a game-winning fourth.