The fifth round of the EuroLeague saw Armani Milano and Anadolu Efes extend their winning streak to four games.
The Italians escaped from Berlin with a big win over ALBA (78-81) and improved their record to 4-1.
Even though the Germans led for the majority of night, Armani went on an 1-13 run between the third and fourth quarter and never looked back (59-67).
ALBA tried to turn things around (73-75), yet Sergio Rodriguez sealed the deal for the visitors from the free-throw line.
Rodriguez (17 points) and Luis Scola (14 points) led the winners in scoring, whereas Peyton Siva had a game-high 20 points for the losing squad, which suffered its fourth straight loss and dropped to 1-4.
In Istanbul, Vasilije Micic was unstoppable and helped Anadolu Efes overpower Crvena Zvezda (85-70) and improve to 4-1.
The Serbian guard had a game-high 26 points for the winners, whereas Lorenzo Brown posted a team-high 18 points for the losing squad, which dropped to 1-4.
Even though the Turks made a great start (21-9, 27-14), the Serbians came back and took the lead, thanks to a 2-20 run in the third quarter (49-51).
Yet, Efes reacted and went on a 26-9 run of their own to seal the deal (75-60), as Zvezda never recovered after that.
Khimki outscored Panathinaikos 53-31 in the second half and cruised to an easy home victory (103-86) to improve to 4-1.
The “Greens” remained competitive until the end of the third quarter (25-29, 50-55, 77-73), yet the Russians took over after that.
Playing excellent offensively, they went on a 26-13 run in the fourth quarter and dominated their opponents, as the Greeks never threatened again.
Alexey Shved led the winners in scoring with a game-high 26 points, whereas Jimmer Fredette had a team-high 16 points for the losing squad, which dropped to 1-4.
Khimki hit 15 three-pointers in the game (15/29).
In a late thriller that was decided in the final seconds, ASVEL Villeurbanne edged Baskonia and remained undefeated at home (66-63).
The Basques were in front by six at halftime(30-36), yet the French reacted and cut the deficit to one at the end of the third quarter (48-49).
ASVEL took the lead in the final 10 minutes of the game (57-51, 62-56) and sealed the deal, despite Baskonia’s late effort to turn things around (63-61).
Tonye Jekiri led the winners with 16 points and 11 rebounds, whereas Tornike Shengelia had 17 points for the losing squad.
ASVEL Villeurbanne improved to 3-2 in the standings, whereas Baskonia dropped to 2-3.
