EuroLeague Round 18 came to an end on Thursday with just four games taking place and Baskonia dominaning FC Barcelona (94-75).
At Fernando Buesa Arena, the Basques took control from the second quarter onwards and never looked back. Outscoring the Catalans 54-31 between the second and third quarter, the Basques led by as many as 25 (82-57) and cruised to the win.
Baskonia won back-to-back games for the first time this season and improved to 7-11. On the other hand, FC Barcelona saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 15-3.
UNICS Kazan endured the comeback of Anadolu Efes and clinched a crucial home win over the reigning champions (75-67). The Russians made an explosive start (17-0), but the Turks turned things around at halftime (42-38).
Despite the visitors’ comeback attempt, the hosts stood tall and retained their lead (57-49) until the end, protecting their home court.
UNICS maintained its top four push and is fifth at 11-7. For its part, Efes dropped to 9-9 and lost for the first time after three straight wins.
Zenit Saint Petersburg survived a late thriller over Crvena Zvezda and claimed the 76-80 overtime win in Belgrade. The Serbians were in control until the third quarter, but the Russians outscored them 12-19 in the fourth quarter to force overtime (69-69).
In the extra period, the visitors relied on their defense and conceded just seven points to seal the deal. Zenit won its fourth straight and now is at 12-6. For its part, Zvezda dropped to 7-11.
On Wednesday, Monaco (7-11) handed Maccabi Tel-Aviv (7-11) its eighth straigh EuroLeague loss (82-76). No other match took place on Wednesday and Thursday, due to the recent Covid-19 outbreak. The competition had to suspend a total of five Round 18 games.
