The first week of the EuroLeague playoffs came to an end with an impressive showing by Real Madrid who blew out Maccabi. Monaco did the same prior to Madrid’s victory to steal the home court advantage from Olympiacos.
On Thursday, Bayern Munich and Olimpia Milano showed resiliency to win the Game 2, respectively and make their series more interesting.
Milan used a huge game by Shavon Shields, who scored 21 points, to lead Milan to the 1-1. The Italian side had to play without Melli, who will be out for the rest of the EuroLeague playoffs, while the same goes for Malcolm Delaney who was injured during Game 2.
The EuroLeague giants had to play Efes undermanned in Turkey and that’s Ettore Messina biggest issue. Shield started Thursday’s game slow, struggling through the first half. He missed every shot he took in the opening 19 minutes.
Shields had 18 points in the second half to save the day for the undermanned Milan. With series going to Istanbul, Milan will need Shields to perform at the highest level to make this a competitive two-game series.
“You could see Coach Ataman correctly smiling, he was not even upset. He knows that the series is almost over. We are probably playing without four or five players in the next games. We just want to enjoy today, and then think about the next game,” Messina said in the post-game presser.
Bayern Munich overcomes FC Barcelona to make things interesting
Bayern Munich is clearly not played at the same level FC Barcelona has been played this season. The Catalans have more star quality and depth against a team that appeared undermanned in several occasions this season.
Andrea Trinchieri and co. had a different opinion in Game 2 in front of Barca fans. Deshaun Thomas was sizzling from deep, and Bayern forced 16 turnovers scoring 26 points off of them.
Led by Deshaun Thomas, who hit 6 of 7 shots from the arc, and Andreas Obst, who drilled 4 more, Bayern made 13 of 27 attempts (48.1%) from downtown. Barcelona only shot 7-of -23 from deep.
The 13 made-threes were not only Bayern’s best in seven playoff games, but were just two shy of the most that the team has ever made in any EuroLeague road game.
Thomas excellent performance followed a zero-points outing he had in the Game 1 defeat. He had 15 of Bayern’s 25 points in the crucial second quarter to lead the Bavarians to a 35-48 lead at the half.
“We came here to play hard, and I think it was a good match. It was an important win for us, I mean, and also for me. The first game was a low-scoring one for myself, trying to get the rhythm, but it happens,” Thomas said after the game.
Vincent Poirier dominates Maccabi’s frontline in blowout victory
Real Madrid blew out Maccabi Tel Aviv to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the EuroLeague playoff series. Vincent Poirier was the stepping stone for Real’s dominant first half performance, as he grabbed six offensive rebounds to tie a EuroLeague record for most offensive rebounds in a half.
Poirier finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds helping Los Blancos to win the rebound battle by 11 (41-30). The French center finished with a game-high PIR of 31 and he took home the MVP award of the EuroLeague playoff Game 2s. Madrid has a 2-0 lead and it needs one more win to advance to the Final-Four in Belgrade.
“I just tried to do my job. I grabbed a lot of rebounds and gave the team an opportunity to score again. That’s my job. I’m really happy. We did it together. We rebounded well defensively, too. It was a great team effort,” Poirier said in the post-game presser.
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