Euroleague Basketball Predictions, News & Injury list

Euroleague Play Offs tips

EuroLeague Play offs tips appear under each mini game preview.

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Efes – Real Madrid (1-0)

After a close first half that ended 44-40, Efes skyrocketed in the second half with a 46-23 run that stunned Los Blancos. Rodrigue Beaubois led Efes in offense with 19 points as the hosts outscored the guests from all shooting ranges. Also, young Tristan Vukcevic of Real became the first player to make his EuroLeague debut in a playoff game — and as a starter, no less!

After Anadolu Efes Istanbul’s commanding 90-63 win over Real Madrid in the series opener, their their best-of-five playoff resume on Thursday in Istanbul with Game 2. Since the implementation of the best-of-five playoffs format in 2009, just six Game 1 losers series came back and won their series to advance to the Final Four. The last of them, in fact, was Real Madrid in 2017-18, as it lost Game 1 against Panathinaikos and then went on to win the next three in a row and continue unbeaten until claiming the EuroLeague title in Belgrade.

Everything seemed to click for Efes in Game 1, especially in the second half. If the hosts can take care of the ball and stay at 9 turnovers, the recipe for success could be right there again. Defense also kept Real shooters limited, so it’s clear that Efes will have to try to pick up where it left it at the end of opening game. The icing on the cake would be if Chris Singleton, who did not score at all despite being on the court for more than 15 minutes, managed to get more involved to make Efes even more unstoppable.

Real has a tough challenge ahead. The team must regroup and take on Game 2 with almost no time to rest or change many things in the game plan. The guests have to find a way to make the offense flow better; Los Blancos tied for their second-worst mark in assists this season in Game 1. Real will have to try to impose its style and find options for players like Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez and Jaycee Carroll, who combined for just 10 points on opening night.

Anthony Randolph is out with a ruptured left Achilles tendon.
Gabriel Deck has left the team.

Tip: Real Madrid Over 76.5 points at 1.86 with bet365
(Price correct at 22/04/2021, 10:40 CET, subject to change)

Milano – Bayern (1-0)

It’s the second act of the EuroLeague Playoffs drama in the fashion capital, where Milan hosts Bayern only 48 hours after their Game 1 finished on a buzzer-beating game-winner from Zach LeDay of the home team. This is the first-ever playoff appearance for Bayern, which led by as many as 19 points in the series opener on Tuesday. Milan, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2014, still trailed by 11 points at the start of the fourth quarter, but rallied before the game ended in the most dramatic of fashions. Five times in best-of-five playoff history has a team won a series despite losing Game 1 on the road, but never has a team overcome a 0-2 deficit. Milan wants that two-game lead, but Bayern is hoping to even the series.

Milan will need to come out in this game with a lot more energy than it did on Tuesday. Milan pulled out an improbable win, but needed a 19-point comeback and a game-winner as time expired. In Game 2, Milan cannot afford another slow and sluggish start, but it needs to parlay the home-court advantage it worked hard all season to gain by taking command early and building its game on the poise and energy it showed in the final 15 minutes of Game 1.

Similar to the hosts, Bayern’s Game 2 performance will depend a lot on the mental aspect of its preparation for this game. Bayern players, and staff, will need to find a way to quickly forget about how they let a playoff road win slip away from them on Tuesday and bounce back from that crushing defeat. Bayern saw the way it needs to play, it did many things right, such as committing only 8 turnovers. But it will surely need to improve its finishing touches close to the rim after making just 39% of its two-point shots in Game 1.