Important milestones in Euroleague round 32

Whether reaching important milestones or staying alive, it was a big night for every winner in four games on Friday to close Round 32.

AS Monaco 78-68 Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

Monaco improved its chances of reaching the playoffs – and eliminated a potential opponent in that race – by downing Baskonia by 78-68 at home on Friday. Monaco improved to 13-13 in the standings, while Baskonia dropped to 11-6 and is mathematically out of chances to make it to the next round. Will Thomas led the winners with 16 points. Dwayne Bacon added 14 while Alpha Diallo and Donta Hall each had 10 for Monaco. Alec Peters led Baskonia with 15 points.

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 80-94 Olympiacos Piraeus

Olympiacos Piraeus will return to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs with a home-court advantage after downing host LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 80-94 on Friday. Olympiacos raised its record to 18-9 to take over the third place while already-eliminated ASVEL slipped to 8-18. Tyler Dorsey poured in 21 points to lead the Reds, while Sasha Vezenkov had a double-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and Kostas Sloukas neared one with 15 points, nine assists. Matthew Strazel hit five three-pointers to lead ASVEL with 16 points.

ALBA Berlin 74-70 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

ALBA kept its playoff hopes alive and kicking by edging out visiting Zvezda 74-70 on Friday night in the German capital. The victory win gave ALBA a sweep of Zvezda and improved its record to 10-14, while Zvezda dropped to 11-14. In a tight second half, neither team held a lead bigger than 5 points. ALBA prevailed in the end as Maodo Lo scored 22 points, Jaleen Smith had 17, while Luke Sikma collected 13 points plus nine rebounds. Nate Wolters paced Zvezda with 18 points and five assists. Nikola Kalinic scored 13 points, Ognjen Dobirc netted 12, and Dejan Davidovac had 11 in a losing effort.

FC Barcelona 88-67 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

Barcelona clinched first place by downing Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 88-67 at home in Palau Blaugrana on Friday to raise its record to 21-5, three victories clear of the pack. . Nikola Mirotic and Alex Abrines led the winners with 18 points apiece. Fenerbahce, which fell to 9-15, got 15 points from Marko Guduric.