Who will reach the Final Four of the EuroLeague?
This Euroleague season proved once again that it is the strongest in history. Of the 3 series that reached the 4th match, all of them ended up having a decisive match, so out of 4 playoff series 3 have a decisive match, this has only happened once before in 2021. Since they have been playing in this system, 15 series has reached match 5 and the record is 15-0 for the hosts, I am sure that this record will be broken this season; Partizan, Maccabi and Fenerbahce all have good chances to stop the series of the hosts.
Olympiacos Piraeus vs. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
This series is also the most beautiful, the places at the end of the regular season don’t even matter, there are two teams with tradition, with a lot of fans. The balance was present throughout this series after a 1-1 in Greece followed a 1-1 in Turkey, Fenerbahce’s victory coming after they managed to hold Sloukas-Vezenkov to a combined 5 points in match 4 after they scored 42 points in match 3. The key to winning match 5 will again be how the team led by Itoudis will be able to stop Sloukas-Vezenkov. They demonstrated that they found the formula, let’s see if they can repeat it again, for me the Turkish team seems more valuable and I think they will be able to win this series.
AS Monaco vs. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv
Monaco is in the second season of the Euroleague and in the 2nd series of 5 games in the playoffs. If last year they lost the 5th game, this year they are the ones who will defend their home field after they managed to win one of the two games played away in Israel thanks to Mike James’ 21 points. Game 4 instead was a show of strength from Maccabi 104-69, Brown-Baldwin having combined 41 points and 12 assists. Probably this success will give wings to Kattash’s team and in the 5th match they will prove that they are a much more valuable and experienced team and they will be the ones who will qualify in the Final 4.
Real Madrid vs Partizan Mozzart Bet
The first series in which the teams win 4 away matches in history, after 2 successes of Partizan in Madrid, Real took advantage of the suspensions of Lessort and Punter and won the 2 matches in Belgrade. Game 3 was won by Tavares who took advantage of Lessort’s absence and finished with 26 points, and 11 rebounds; game 4 was Hanga’s game with 15 points, decisive was also the low percentage of the Serbs from the 3-point line, their main weapon 26.1%. Match 5 will be totally different, the Madrid fans are recognized as fans who do not create a hostile atmosphere, Partizan will have Lessort and Punter while at Real: Tavares is still not fully recovered and Deck who was injured in match 4 has a high chance of missing, a hard blow for Real’s offensive. In this series, I am going for the continuity of away victories and Obradovic’s experience in this competition.
Valentin Petruta
Photo credit: EuroLeague
