Barcelona leaped into second place in Group E of the Euroleague Top 16, with an 81-77 win over Panathinaikos, as the Liga Endesa champions continue their dominance over the Greek giants.
It is now an eighth consecutive victory over Panathinaikos for Barca as they move to 6-3, while their Greek counterparts drop to 5-4 and fourth spot.
“We got a great win tonight in a very difficult and competitive game,” said Barcelona’s Justin Doellman, who led the victors with 21 points.
“Some good shots and crucial boards were the key for us to beat Panathinaikos and sweep the series, 4-0. I think that in all four games we defended well against them and had the rotation needed.”
Esteban Batista posted 16 points to lead Panathinaikos.
Boban Marjanovic might have led Red Star Belgrade with 19 points and 17 rebounds but Marcus Williams stole the show in their impressive 89-76 win over Euroleague champions Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv.
Williams drained five three-pointers as he helped the Serbian side build a 78-68 lead with 4:18 remaining and never look back.
The win improves Red Star’s record in Group E to 2-7, while Maccabi move to 6-3.
Jeremy Pargo led Maccabi with 14.
In Group F, CSKA Moscow returned to winning ways by ending Laboral Kutxa’s three-game unbeaten run, securing an 81-74 success in Vitoria.
Vitaly Fridzon paced CSKA with 13 points as they go to 7-2 in the pool with Laboral Kutxa moving to 4-5.
“They started the game very strong, as we expected before the game,” CSKA’s Nando De Colo said. “Laboral played with a lot of aggressiveness, as they use to do when they play at home.
“They made easy baskets but when we managed to react and match that level we improved and because of that we won the game. We must do this every game, we cannot choose which game we are going to play because from now on every game will be important and we must keep walking.”
Darius Adams hauled in 31 points for the Spaniards but it was all in vain.
Fenerbahce registered its sixth straight Euroleague Top 16 win by downing Nizhny Novgorod 92-79 in the Asian end of Istanbul in the other Group F clash.
The Turkish side improved to 7-2 and came closer to clinching a quarter-final playoffs spot while Nizhny dropped to 2-7. Nemanja Bjelica led the winners with 16 points, while Trey Thompkins led Nizhny with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
