Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball

Maccabi Tel-Aviv edged Anadolu Efes in a late thriller at home (77-75) and advanced to the EuroLeague playoffs for the first time in five years.

At the same time, the Israelis put an end to the Turks’ 11-game winning streak and 12-game road winning streak.

Maccabi improved to 19-8, whereas Efes, which was undefeated in 2020, dropped to 23-4.

Barcelona came closer to securing the home-court advantage in the playoffs, after defeating ALBA Berlin on the road (80-86). The Catalans earned their eighth straight win and raised their record to 21-7.

For their part, the Germans fell to 9-18.

In Istanbul, Fenerbahce stood tall and beat Crvena Zvezda (66-63) to maintain a playoff push. The Turks are at 13-14, one win behind Panathinaikos, who are sixth in the standings.

The Serbians dropped to 10-17 and two wins outside of the playoff zone.

Baskonia stayed alive in the race for the EuroLeague playoffs by downing Bayern Munich 71-80 to end its road losing streak. 

The Basques improved to 11-16 and stayed close in the fight for eighth place. On the other hand, the Bavarians remained on the bottom of the standings with an 8-19 record.