Barcelona ensured home advantage in the Euroleague quarter-finals after they thrashed reigning champions Olympiacos 70-58 in Group E of the Top 16.
Barca go to 10-0 in the group as they were able to pull away from Olympiacos late in the third quarter and build their double digit advantage from there. Olympiacos are in the midst of a 4-game losing streak as they drop to 4-7 with four games left.
Brad Oleson led Barcelona with 15 points, with Ante Tomic adding 14. Olympiacos were led by Bryant Dunstan’s game-high 18 points.
The match was a special occasion for Juan Carlos Navarro, as he passed Theo Papaloukas’ Euroleague record for appearances with 253 and minutes played with 6,594, eclipsing JR Holden’s previous feat.
“I am very happy for breaking this record and getting this win that improves our winning streak in the Top 16,” Navarro said. “Palau Blaugrana was amazing and the tribute was great. I didn’t expect this video featuring so many friends. I have to thank the Euroleague and my club for organizing this.”
The other Group E clash saw Panathinaikos get a vital win in Fragiskos Alvertis’ first game in charge as they downed Anadolu Efes 65-60 in overtime.
It certainly wasn’t the greatest of games, but the Greeks won’t care how the game was won as long as they won. The Greens relied on a clutch three from Jonas Maciulis with 12 seconds remaining in regulation to take the game to an extra period – and from there – they had too much energy in reserve a tired Anadolu Efes side slumped to defeat.
Antonis Fotis led the winners with 14 points, as they move to 5-5, while Zoran Planinic led all scorers for Anadolu with 15 as they drop to 2-8.
In Group F and Galatasaray survived in Krasnodar to beat Lokomotiv Kuban 67-66 as both teams now own 4-6 records in the group.
In his first game since injuring his Achilles tendon, Manuchar Markoishvili led the Turks with 19 points, including five from three-point land in the win. Kuban had a shot of winning it, but Andrey Zubkov saw his open jumper miss the target.
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