Euroleague, ALBA Berlin beats Maccabi Tel Aviv

The Euroleague Top 16 reached its halfway point as Round 7 tipped off this week with four games on Thursday. It has been a week of resolution in European Basketball with the Eurocup and Eurochallenge heading to their knockout phases, but there is still plenty to play for in the Euroleague Top 16. However, both groups are starting to take shape, although as always there were plenty of surprises as Round 7 opened.

Chief among those surprises was a shock home loss for current champs Maccabi Tel Aviv at the hands of ALBA Berlin. Elsewhere in Group E, Barcelona got back on track with a home win over Galatasaray, while Real Madrid continued its serene progress with a cruising road win over Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania. In Group F there was just a single game on Thursday, but Olympiacos used it to propel itself to the top of the standings with an away win over Nizhny Novgorod.

Group E
Surely the shock of the round will be ALBA Berlin’s 59-66 road win over current Euroleague champions Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Germans entered the contest after two consecutive losses, while Tel Aviv was chasing a sixth straight win. However, ALBA paced with a 0-7 run in the opening minutes of the third quarter to take the lead and never looked back. The Berlin contingent put in a dogged defensive display, while Jamel McLean led the scoring for the winning effort with 18 points. The victory kept ALBA in the mix in fifth place with a 3-4 record, while Tel Aviv slips to second with a 5-2 record.

Real Madrid has recovered from its loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Round 5 and has now won the last two Euroleague Top 16 games. The Spanish giant travelled to Kaunas and downed the Greens of Zalgiris in style, winning the game 71-88. A tight first half saw the teams lock 47-47 through the long break, but Los Blancos pulled away in the third act thanks to the downtown shooting of Rudy Fernandez, who would end the contest with a game high 17 points. Madrid now holds sole possession of first place in Group E with a 6-1, while the job is getting harder for Zalgiris from sixth (2-5).

FC Regal Barcelona has suffered a bumpy passage in the Top 16 so far, losing three of its contests including a crushing defeat at the hands of rival Real Madrid last week. The Catalan giant bounced back with a morale boosting 82-70 home win over Turkish club Galatasaray in Round 7. Despite its patchy form, Barcelona holds the final qualification spot (4th) with a 4-3 record, while Galatasaray joins Zalgiris Kaunas on 2-5.

Group F
After snapping CSKA Moscow’s unbeaten run last week, Olympiacos backed it up by taking out Nizhny Novgorod 82-91 on the road. The result means the Greek giant now holds first place in Group F on its own with 6-1, although CSKA can tie that record tomorrow. Russian club Nizhny is playing consistently but finding that the margins are fine in the Euroleague Top 16, the outfit now slips to sixth place and a 2-5 record. The hosts led 42-41 through halftime and extended through the third period to look good heading into the fourth stanza. However, a Vassilis Spanoulis inspired Olympiacos came back into it in the closing minutes and overwhelmed the hosts to win the game.