We have arrived to Round 29 of the Euroleague and things are slowly taking place for the playoff picture that will begin on April 18th. The top three teams are set although the exact order is yet to be determined but there is still a battle brewing for the fourth place spot and home court advantage as Fenerbahce is slowly slipping with consecutive losses to Macabbi and Anadolu, plus head to Spain this week to face Real Madrid.
Panathinaikos and Baskonia faced off last Friday and the spanish side let a huge opportunity slip by. With a win Baskonia would of pulled into a tie for the fourth position and own the head to head advantage over Fenerbahce but it was Panathinaikos that looked like the more experienced team and pulled out a very impressive win on the road. The big matchup this week is Panathinaikos at home against CSKA Mosow who also reamins in a fight for first place with Real Madrid who as I mentioned facing Fenerbahce at home this Friday. It is a wild ride on top of the standings but now let me look at how wild things are getting for that eighth playoff spot that still remains open.
Darussafaka and Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) have one game separating them for that final spot and find themselves in a very precarious position. Darussafaka travels to Germany this week to face Brose Basket who seemed to give up two weeks ago but then went on the road to beat Milan last week while Darussafaka took care of Galatasaray at home to stay alive. The main reason they remained in the hunt has been Red Stars inability to clinch a playoff spot with two losses last week to Olympiakos at home and a decimated Barcelona team in Spain.
These two teams will face each other next week in the final round of the regular season that just might be an all out fight for that final spot in Turkey. The head to head right now is held by Darussafaka thanks to a three point road win in Belgrade way back in Round 1 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague season. This sets up without a doubt as the game of the week depending on if all goes right this week. In the scenario that the Turks lose to Brose and Red Star takes care of business at home that final game will become irrelevant. Considering how this season has gone I doubt that will happen but no matter what Darussafaka must go on the road and win their most important game of the season, that is until next week……………….Stay Tuned!!
