In one of the games of the Euroleague season, Anadolu Efes defeated Real Madrid 75-73 thanks to a game-winning tip-in from Matt Janning.
In a frantic finish in Istanbul, Cedi Osman tied the game at 71-71 with a three-pointer. Stephane Lasme and Andres Nocioni traded layups for a 73-73 tie.
Efes would have the last possession with 6.8 seconds left. Milko Bjelica and Osman missed around the basket before Janning took over with the game-winning tip-in at the buzzer.
Both teams are now joint top of Group A with 4-1 records.
Osman led the winners with 16 points. Dario Saric added 13 points.
“I don’t know what to say,” Osman said. “I am really happy because we won this game. We showed we are a good team, a Final Four candidate. Congratulations to our fans and of course, to my teammates for this win.”
Sergio Llull hit 20 points for Real Madrid.
The other Group A clash saw Dinamo Sassari score their first win of the Euroleague by beating Zalgiris 92-80 in Italy.
Sassari forced Zalgiris into 31 turnovers, while gathering a season-high 22 steals. The Italians move to 1-4, while Zalgiris drop to 3-2.
“I think we have been working so hard to get a victory,” said Sassari’s Shane Lawal, who led the winners with 25 points and 9 rebounds.
“We played really bad in some situations, we would play good for half a game, but not a whole game. This is the first time we played three good quarters of basketball. We still have room to improve. We played great team basketball. We got our confidence back, we need to win the next one and the next one. We want to make Top 16, we can make the Top 16.”
Barcelona defeated Panathinaikos 78-69 in an intense Group C encounter at the Palau Blaugrana.
The landmark 300th game for the Greens ended in defeat as they allowed Barca to score 29 points in the second quarter, resulting in a 47-38 half-time deficit. That proved to be too much for Panathinaikos to come back from, as they drop to 3-2.
“I am very happy, this is a special win,” Barca coach Xavi Pascual said. “We were looking for a game like this in the first half to keep our options in the second half.
“We had three consecutive turnovers in the third quarter but even with that, our good defense allowed us to win. I am happy with our 5-0 record, but also with the great support from our fans. We are close to reach the Top 16.”
Ante Tomic led Barcelona with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Estaban Batista paced Panathinaikos with 14 points.
CSKA Moscow, like Barcelona, remained perfect at 5-0 in Group B by beating Limoges 86-76.
But, it was by no means a comfortable win, in fact CSKA had to come back from a 71-59 deficit after three quarters in order to get the job done. In the fourth quarter, they held Limoges to just 5 points, while scoring 27 themselves.
It was harsh on Limoges, who looked physically drained after putting everything into the first three quarters. They simply just blew out.
Sonny Weems led CSKA with 18 points, with Milos Teodosic adding 16 points and 12 assists.
Limoges drop to 1-4 in the group.
The other game in Group B saw Alba Berlin comfortably beat Cedevita 80-67 in Zagreb.
The German side trailed 21-15 after the first quarter, but quickly regrouped in the second and strong play inside led to Alba Berlin taking a 42-35 advantage at the half.
Berlin moved into fourth place in Group B with a 2-3 record at the midway point of the regular season, while Cedevita dropped to 1-4. Jamel McLean tallied 20 points and 3 steals to lead the winners as he went 8/10 from the field.