By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
That’s where the betting opportunities of this two-day round lie since the incentive of these specific teams is quite big and this will affect their performance as well.
Fenerbahce – Barcelona
The easy way or the hard way, Fenerbahce are going to do their duty and beat Barcelona who have been bad this year. Aside from that, they’re going to wait and learn the other results to see what place they’re going to finish in the end. The Turks are playing first and this is very important in terms of the betting since, in any case, they cannot be complacent since they don’t know what the other teams are going to do. So, the 1,12 for the home win might be low but it could get on one of our tickets in order to increase our potential profit.
Maccabi Tel Aviv – Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos want the win to secure fourth place and the home court advantage mathematically as well. The Greens will finish fourth even in case of a defeat if Baskonia win, but the Basques play after them so there is no room for such thoughts. Either way, Pascual’s team is better than the indifferent Maccabi Tel Aviv, who, aside from everything else, are also dealing with several injury problems. The away win is offered at 1,32 and can get on one of our tickets, while the handicap for the away win is also a very good option (-5,5 with a 1,75 payoff).
Panathinaikos’s defense is excellent, but Maccabi don’t have so many players left, and so certain lines of specific players who can come to the fore offensively take on value. Two of those are Rudd (his line at 12,5 at OPAP) and Landesberg (his line at 11,5). Both of them have quite good chances since they take many shots, but it might be good not to take risks with two Overs. Landesberg seems like the better option.
The third interested party is Baskonia, who probably won’t have any problems against Zalgiris Kaunas in Spain. The home team has more quality than the Lithuanians and they definitely don’t want to trip up in the final lap of the regular season of the competition. This means that they are going to appear serious and focused with no intention of underestimating their opponent.
The clash between Bamberg and Galatasaray is of no interest in terms of the standings. If we had to select a point, that would be the Over 160,5. Perhaps due to the special nature of this round the confrontation might be more of an “exhibition” game with defenses being more loose and the players having their minds more on offense and spectacle.
The picks
Trinity: Wins for Panathinaikos, Baskonia, Fenerbahce @1,72 at OPAP
Maccabi Tel Aviv – Panathinaikos 2 (-5,5) @1,75 at OPAP
Landesberg Over 11,5 @1,70 at OPAP
Bamberg – Galatasaray Over 160,5 @1,75 at OPAP