@EuroLeague: Milan ruined Shved’s return; Sloukas, Kalinić, Fenerbahçe new victory

In the EuroLeague Round 24 first evening, Milan won 88 – 90 against Khimki in Russia; Fenerbahce beat Efes with a score of 84 – 66; Maccabi won 77 – 58 against Darussafaka; Baskonia, 80 – 73 against Zalgiris and Panathinaikos prevailed against Gran Canaria with a score of 80 – 99.

In the first match of the round, the crowd in the Arena Mytishchi was able to watch an excellent game between Khimki and Milan. Even though it was a great game to watch, at the end, the home team fans were disappointed due to the fact their team lost with a 2 points difference (88 – 90).

The Good news for the Russian fans were the fact that Alexey Shved was back in action after he has recovered from an injury. Shwed finished the match with 23 points and 11 assists for an index rating of 29. But the Italian team ruined his night and scored its 13^th victory in the fight for a Playoffs spot with only 6 rounds till the end of the Regular Season.

The one who was leading the guest team was Kaleb Tarczewski, who scored 15 points (7 of 8 2 pointers and 1 of 1 from free throw line) with 6 rebounds for an index rating of 25. His teammate Mike James scored one point more (16) for an index rating of 18, while Vladimir Micov finished the match with 15 points (and an index rating of 11). James Nunnally added 13 with 7 assists and 5 rebounds (index rating of 15) and Curtis Jerrells ended the game with 11 points (and an index rating of 13).

In Khimki, besides an excellent Shved, three other players had double digit points: Malcolm Thomas, who scored 17 points with 8 rebounds (index rating of 20); Tony Crocker and Charles Jenkins, who added 15 points each one of them. Crocker had an index rating of 17 and Jenkins of 15.

In Turkey, in Istanbul, Fenerbahce was hosting Efes in another Turkish Derby and won with an 18 points difference (84 – 66). This was the 21^st victory of Željko Obradović’s squad, while their main opponent in the national league has 15 wins and 9 losses in the EuroLeague.

In his special night, the Greek guard Kostas Sloukas (scored his 1000^th point in the best European club competition) finished the game with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for an index rating of 20. Nikola Kalinić added 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists (index rating of 17), while Luigi Datome had 13 points and 4 rebounds (index rating of 14) and Marko Gudurić ended the match with 11 points and 4 assists (index rating of 12). Even though he didn’t score more than 10 points, one of the best players in the Turkish match was Jan Vesely, who added 8 points and 8 rebounds for an index rating of 15.

On the other side, in Ergin Ataman’s squad, the best on the court was Shane Larkin with 13 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds (index rating of 17), while Adrien Moerman scored the most points in the game (18) and had 5 rebounds for an index rating of 15. Tibor Pleiss ended the game with 11 points and 4 rebounds (index rating of 12).

For now, after the first night of the Round 24, Fenerbahce is on the first position with 21 wins and it will remain once the round will be completed because CSKA and Madrid had 18 wins (these 2 teams still didn’t play this week round).

Efes has 15 wins and for now is at the fourth place but the Turkish club still didn’t qualify for the Playoffs (only Fenerbahce, CSKA and Madrid are qualified). Milan is on the 6^th place for now with 13 wins and 11 losses, while Baskonia has 12 wins and the  same number of defeats and, for now, is on the 8^th position.

Maccabi, after the win against Darussafaka has 11 victories and 13 losses and is on the 10^th position with a chance to fight for the Playoffs, while the Turkish team has no chance. Darussafaka is on the last position with only 3 wins and 21 defeats.

Right behind Maccabi, Panathinaikos is seeking for their chance and, with the same number of wins and losses as it has the team from Tel Aviv, the Greek squad is on the 11^th place. Khimki and Zalgiris have the same number of wins (9) and they are at the 12^th and 13^th positions, respectively.

The last team that played in the 24^th round first night is Gran Canaria. The ACB squad has 6 wins and 18 losses and is on the 15^th position for now, right before Darussafaka