The final round of EuroLeague regular season action got under way on Thursday with upsets ensuring two quarter-final series being confirmed.
Basement side Anadolu Efes were able to score a final day 81-79 road win over Baskonia.
Errick McCollum led the winners with 21 points as he made sure Anadolu Efes ended their campaign on a high note and left Baskonia set to face second placed Fenerbahce in the playoffs.
Fenerbahce have gone court in their best-of-five series with Baskonia. However the champions ended their regular season with a disappointing 99-91 loss to Unicaja Malaga after overtime.
Nemanja Nedovic led Malaga with a career-high 31 points along with eight assists as they end their EuroLeague season on a high.
Khimki were left stunned as they went down 86-82 away to Barcelona.
The EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro turned back time by leading the way with 17 points as the Catalan side drained 17 three-pointers in their final EuroLeague game of the season.
Khimki’s loss meant that they finished eighth as they gear up for a Moscow derby against top seeded CSKA Moscow in the quarter-final playoffs.
CSKA will enter the series full of confidence after they saw-off eliminated Crvena Zvezda 92-81.
The Muscovites were without Nando De Colo plus they lost Kyle Hines to a leg injury at the start of the second quarter, had to overcome several double-digit deficits.
But Othello Hunter fueled a 14-2 run to erase the deficit before Leo Westermann and Sergio Rodriguez took over in the fourth quarter as the hosts secured a victory.
Vitaly Fridzon netted 20 points to lead CSKA.
Panathinaikos have done all they can in their bid for fourth but now must wait on results tomorrow to see if they were successful in landing home court.
They needed overtime though to secure a nerve-racking 96-95 overtime win over Olimpia Milano.
Mike James sent a one-hand pass toward the rim that James Gist never touched but somehow the ball dropped in, giving the Greens a serendipitous win in a game they trailed in early and often.
Panathinaikos raised its record to 19-11 to gain the home-court advantage, the Greens now need Olympiacos or Real Madrid to lose on Friday, but if both win, the Greens will finish fifth.
Milano finished its season 10-20 despite leading for most of the game, at one point by as much as 17 points. Milan nonetheless needed three free throws by Dairis Bertans to force overtime, where it seemed set to win again until the last, fateful play.
