Turkish Airlines EuroLeague: importance of home in playoffs
The road to the Kombank Arean in Belgrade and the 2018 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four is underway with knockout basketball for the first time this season. Showing just how important home advantage is, two hosts teams tipped off their Playoff series with wins. We have seen through the Regular Season that holding the home court is hugely important at the elite level.
That’s why getting home advantage first in the best-of-three series’ was so important to clubs. CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos won tonight, and could conceivably qualify to the next by only winning at home and losing away. Khimki and Real Madrid, the losing teams tonight, don’t have that luxury and must find a road win.
Playoff A: CSKA Moscow 98-95 Khimki Moscow Region (1-0)
CSKA was pushed all the way by Khimki, but ultimately won this Moscow derby to take a 1-0 series lead in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs. The Regular Season winners rallied in the fourth quarter to shut down the game. However, with the series heading back to Khimki on Friday, CSKA will know this is still wide open. In this contest, Khimki was in charge during the first three quarters, leading 72-75 through thirty minutes. The hosts found some momentum in the fourth quarter and Khimki failed to score in the opening three minutes of the frame. During that time, CSKA drained 11 points, took the lead for good, and won the game. Sergio Rodriguez had his best Playoff game ever, pacing CSKA Moscow with 22 points, hitting 5-from-8 from downtown. Alexey Shved, the best scorer in the EuroLeague this season, continued his good form with 22 points for Khimki.
Playoff B: Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens 95-67 Real Madrid (1-0)
Panathinaikos laid a big marker down in Athens by soundly beating Real Madrid. This commanding 28-point victory sent a message around the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague that the former champs means business. As for Real Madrid (another former champion), the club can be flaky on the road and will hope it can salvage something in Madrid later this week. Still, even if that happens, Los Blancos needs to find an away win in Athens in a potential game 3. In this game, the scoreboard tells the story as Panathinaikos dominated the contest. The home team was out of sight early and Madrid never got within 8 points. Indeed, Panathinaikos blitzed the second half, using a 31-14 run in the third act to settle the game for good. Nick Calathes was in giving mood, dishing 16 assists to teammates, setting a Playoff record in the process.