The third round of the Euroleague play-offs begins this evening, Tuesday, May 5, and it could be decisive as Real Madrid, Olympiacos, and Fenerbahçe are all leading 2-0, after winning the first two games with home court advantage last week. Unlike the NBA play-offs, the Euroleague play-offs are a series of best of fives matches, so it can all end in Game 3.
However, the local fans in Monaco, Kaunas and Botevgrad (a city in Bulgaria where the Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv has set its temporary home court) will try to stop it, or at least delay it. They have one and potentially two matches at home to send the play-offs to the final fifth game, which would take next week, but would be played back in Madrid, Athens, and Istanbul.
The exception is Valencia Basket, which despite having home advantage and finishing second in the regular season, lost their first two games at home: one 68-67 and the other 107-105. Panathinaikos has two clear chances of sealing their qualification to play-offs, and Valencia would need to do something really heroic...
Euroleague play-off Games (Round 3)
- Hapoel Tel Aviv vs. Real Madrid: Tuesday, May 5, 18:00 CEST
- Monaco vs. Olympiacos: Tuesday, May 5, 19:45 CEST
- Zalgiris vs. Fenerbahçe: Wednesday, May 6, 19:00 CEST
- Panathinaikos vs. Valencia Basket: Wednesday, May 6, 20:15 CEST
If necessary, Game 4 would be played between May 7 and May 8, Thursday and Friday. If necessary, the final Game 5 would be played between May 12 and 13, with enough time to rest for the final four on May 22 and 24: direct elimination semi-finals and the final at the Telekom Center Athens.
