Efes sets up playoff game against Olympiacos
MADRID
Efes gave in to Real Madrid, setting itself up against Olympiacos in it’s journey to the top of Turkish Airlines Euroleague.
Anadolu Efes lost to Real Madrid on the final day of Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 to set up a playoff meeting against Olympiacos.Efes’ losing skid continued with a heavy 86-66 defeat but still rose to the third spot in the Group E, thanks to a CSKA Moscow victory over Panathinaikos.
With the third-place finish, Anadolu Efes is pitted against Group F runner-up Olympiacos, avoiding group winner Barcelona Regal in the process. The Catalan giants, who are among the biggest favorites to win the Euroleague trophy, will meet Panathinaikos in the playoffs.
Titleholder Olympiacos won the Euroleague after the Final Four in Istanbul last year.
Group E winner CSKA Moscow will meet Caja Laboral and Real Madrid will take on Maccabi in the playoffs.
The best-of-five series will be played through April 9 to 25 and winners will advance to the Final Four in London next month.
On April 4, Efes lost its third consecutive game and dropped to 9-5, to place third place in the group by the virtue of holding a tiebreaker over Panathinaikos, which was also 9-5.
Madrid started pulling away in the first quarter with three triples from Rudy Fernandez to open up an 11-point lead.
Jaycee Carroll scored nine quick points in the second as the margin reached 20 points. Efes made couple of 0-7 runs in the third quarter to cut the deficit, but Sergio Llull finished the quarter stringing together 8 points to extend the margin to 65-48 and Madrid cruised after that.
Llull scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, and dished out six assists in the process, while Fernandez scored 11 of his 15 points in the first quarter. Carroll netted 14 points, Nikola Mirotic collected 11 points plus 7 rebounds and Marcus Slaughter scored 10 for the hosts.
Jordan Farmar finished with 11 points for Efes, Jamon Lucas 10 and Kerem Gonlum had 8 points plus 9 rebounds in defeat.