Round 6 is halfway through and there are already a great number of talking points to take from this round. When you look at the line-up of games that were scheduled for Thursday the 5th of February, this was always going to be the case, but thankfully the matches lived up to the hype.
Group E
With three games on Thursday night, the vast majority of the Euroleague focus fell on Group E, but of course, this group was hosting one of the biggest games in European basketball!
Real Madrid 97 – Barcelona 73
Real Madrid were coming into this game on the back of a defeat but that seemed to make them even more determined in the big game against their rivals. This was the second biggest triumph in 21 games between these two teams, and it seems that Madrid know how to turn it on for the big occasions. The only margin of victory bigger in these matches since 1994 came in the Euroleague Semi-Final last campaign, with a 100-62 scoreline, and it seems as though Real are in a hurry to get back to the final once again. This win places Real Madrid on to a 5-1 record in the Top 16 and Barcelona drop down to a 3-3 record.
Sergio Rodriguez was on great form, grabbing 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in the game. Felipe Reyes stood up to be counted with 14 points and Sergio Llul offered 11 points. Barcelona suffered with their three pointers in the first half, got 22 points from Mario Hezonja, 12 points from Ante Tomic and 11 points from Justin Doellman.
- Q1: 26-16
- Q2: 42-33
- Q3: 66-53
- Q4: 97-73
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 68 – Zalgiris Kaunas 70
This game went to the buzzer, with Marcus Williams coming close to snatching a win for the home team. As it was, the big 68-70 away win sees Kaunas move to a 2-4 record while Zvezda slip to a 1-5 record and they now sit at the bottom of the table. James Anderson was in great form, offering up 22 points for the winners, while Paulius Jankunas provided 11 points and 8 rebounds. There was also 10 points from Arturas Gudaitis in the away day victory. Boban Marjanovic provided 17 points and 10 rebounds, Jaka Blazic offered 12 points and Marcus Williams grabbed 9 points, 7 assists and 4 steals but his night’s sleep would have been ruined by that near miss at the end of the game.
- Q1: 13-20
- Q2: 34-39
- Q3: 49-53
- Q4: 68-70
Galatasaray 94 – Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 97
There is an argument to be made for this being the most thrilling game of the night, which is no mean feat when you consider what else was taking place on Thursday the 5th of February. A three point winner in Overtime is definitely the sort of action that grabs basketball fans, and the reigning Euroleague champions picked up a major win in this game.
Zoran Erceg took the game into overtime with a free throw with four seconds left, making the score 85-85, but he missed the second free-throw, costing his team the chance of victory. That allowed Jeremy Pargo to eventually grab the points that separated the teams. Maccabi sit joint top of Group E with a 5-1 record and Galatasaray hold a 2-4 record and the Turkish side have now lost three games in a row,
Devin Smith was on top form of Maccabi with 24 points while Pargo provided 17 and Sylven Landesberg offered up 14 points. Erceg delivered an impressive 29 points for the home team, Ender Aslan provided 20 points, Justin Carter grabbed 14 points, Sinan Guler offered 13 points and Patric Young provided 10 points for the Turkish side.
- Q1: 22-27
- Q2: 49-44
- Q3: 64-63
- Q4: 85-85
- OT: 94-97
Group F
There was just the one game in Group F on Thursday night and Olympiacos took the opportunity to destroy the Moscow side’s 100% record!
Olympiacos Piraeus 84 – CSKA Moscow 76
The home win now means that both teams have a 5-1 record in the Top 16 and the air of invincibility around CSKA has gone. In fact, after also having lost in their domestic league, the Moscow side is actually experiencing a bit of a slump at the moment.
Vassilis Spanoulis was the top man for Olympiacos with 19 points, Matt Lojeski provided 13 points, Othello Hunter provide 12 points and Bryant Dunston managed to grab 11 rebounds in the game. Milos Teodosic provided 20 points for the losing side, with Nando De Colo offering 13 points and Jyle Hines offered 12 points. There were nine points in at the at the start of the fourth quarter but CSKA never really got close to clawing their way back into this game.
- Q1: 11-17
- Q2: 43-37
- Q3: 64-53
- Q4: 84-76
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Confucius probably didn’t have modern day athletes in mind when he made his famous quote about bouncing back, but the best names in the leading sports know a thing or two about bouncing back from adversity. This is why many... 
The day has finally arrived, the 2020/21 EuroLeague Final Four is set to get underway, and we could not be more excited. If you are a European basketball betting fan, this is the time to finalise your bets, and get set to put your money where your mouth is. We have already discussed the opening...