Euroleague Tips with Previews – Round 30 – Friday

After getting back on the winning track last week, Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (10-17) faces one of its last chances to stay alive in the playoff race when it welcomes already-eliminated Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (8-21) on Friday in Round 30. Panathinaikos still has two pending games in its schedule that were postponed to mid-April. In the Greens’ last game, they snapped a three-game slide against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, 81-63. Zvezda snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 92-81 triumph over Khimki Moscow Region.

The end of the road is right in front of Panathinaikos and it’s up to the hosts to keep making that road a bit longer game after game. Such will be the case against Zvezda. The Greens play against the worst offense in the league (74.3 ppg.) and Zvezda owns the second-weakest numbers under the glass (30.4 rpg.). The key will be to try to improve their league-worst figures from beyond the arc (34.6%) while at the same time trying to avoid Zvezda going to the stripe as much as possible (81.6%).

• Nemanja Nedovic has missed the last five games.

Zvezda is playing to improve as a team and playing for pride. Already eliminated from the playoffs, there’s no pressure for the guests, who can play the role of spoiler if they win in Athens. To do that, the Zvezda will have to try to get more open options from the field, as it has the worst numbers in two-point shooting (49.0%). Panathinaikos also has the fourth-worst defense in the league, so making that offense work, especially trying to increase its league-worst 14.6 assists per game, will be essential for Zvezda to try to turn its last win into a streak.

• Quino Colom has missed the last six games.

This is a battle between the top two teams in the standings. AX Armani Exchange Milan (19-10) can punch its playoff ticket with a victory combined with other results. Kevin Punter (15.0 ppg.), Shavon Shields (13.6 ppg.) and Sergio Rodriguez (10.3 ppg., 4.4 apg.) are leading the team right now. FC Barcelona (21-8) is the only team already qualified for the playoffs, led by Nikola Mirotic (16.5 ppg., 6.1 rpg.), Cory Higgins (12.7 ppg.) and Brandon Davies (11.7 ppg.).

With Delaney injured, Punter and Rodriguez share the point guard duties and dominating the game tempo should be important to deactivate Calathes. Milan ranks third in scoring (81.7 ppg.) despite being 15th in assists (16.2 apg.), which means that many points come from one-on-one opportunities. Milan is the runaway leader with the fewest turnovers (10.9 per game) and Barcelona is last (14.8), in what should be one of the keys to this game, as turnovers often lead to easy points.

• Malcolm Delaney has missed the last three games and is set to be sidelined for at least four weeks after undergoing an arthroscopic cleaning of his left knee.

Barcelona allows a league-low 73.8 points per game and is the only team holding opponents to under 50% from two-point range (48.2%). Keeping those numbers should be critical against a team with effective scorers such as Shields, Gigi Datome and Hines. On offense, getting its three-point shooters – Alex Abrines and Kyle Kuric – involved should be really important to generate space for Mirotic, Davies and Pierre Oriola to hit mid-range jumpers or score in the paint.

• Victor Claver returned to action in Round 27 for the first time since Round 3.