Welcome to our second part of the Euroleague season review. This time we are going to review the playoffs: which teams were the best, best players and the winners of the Euroleague 2019 title. This is going to be a great memory for all of us, so please check our Euroleague Playoffs 2018/19 Season Review, here below.
Quarter-finals
The quarter-finals series were stated in this order:
Fenerbahce (1) – Zalgiris (8);
CSKA (2) – Baskonia (7);
Real Madrid (3) – Panathinaikos (6);
Anadolu Efes (4) – Barcelona (5).
This was pretty exciting playoff run and we have a lot to talk about. We are going to review every single series matchup.
Firstly, Zalgiris came with a big surprise as they managed to steal one game from Fener territory. Ulanovas made a game-winner in game 2 and then Kaunas came out on top and evened the series 1-1. Unfortunately, for Zalgiris, then Fenerbahce came to Kaunas and won both games in a row by a pretty big margin and won the series 3-1.
In our next series, we have CSKA against Baskonia. As CSKA were huge favorites, they won the 1st game in Moscow. But then, Baskonia managed to bring back the intensity to the series and tied it 1-1. But then, just like in Fener-Zalgiris series, underdogs lost both games at home and CSKA were a better team by no means. CSKA wins series 3-1.
The matchup between Real Madrid and Panathinaikos Athens was not exciting. Real Madrid swept Pao in 3 games and left no hope for Athenians as Real’s winning margin average in this series was +8.3. Panathinaikos tried to show that they are able to fight Real in their 1st game and they lost by only 3 points. However, then Real made it clear that they are a way better team and won this series 3-0.
The last, but not least — series between Barcelona and Anadolu Efes was a real treat for fans and players. It took all 5 games to finish this series and Anadolu won game 5 for a ticket to Final 4. These series went back-and-forth. In the beginning, we had two very close games in Istanbul and teams flew to Barcelona with series tied 1-1. Then Anadolu crushed Barca by 34 points in game 3. However, Barca bounced back and forced game 5 with a win in game 4 by a 10 points margin. Game 5 took part in Istanbul and this definitely was a huge boost for Anadolu. They made 17 three-pointers and won this do-or-die game 80-71. Efes wins the series 3-2.
Semi-finals
So in semi-finals, we had all team who came to the quarter-finals with their home court advantages. This is how the pairs were stated:
CSKA (2) – Real Madrid (3)
Fenerbahce (1) – Anadolu Efes (4)
So in the first semi-final, we had a matchup between Fener and Efes. Fener was a huge favorite in this one, although they were missing players like Lauvergne and Datome due to injuries. However, Anadolu simply outscored Fenerbahce and won this game by 19 points leaving no home for their opponents. It looked like Fener was not ready for the bright scene and Anadolu used it to their advantage. Efes qualifies to the championship game 73-92.
In our second semi-final, we had a great matchup between CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid. Bookmakers looked at this match 50/50 and gave equal odds for both teams to win this game. Real Madrid was leading the whole game, however, CSKA with De Colo and Higgins leadership managed to take a late lead and win this game. Real was lack of energy and CSKA used it to advance to the final. CSKA wins this game 95-90.
Final
So in the grand final, we had CSKA Moscow against Anadolu Efes. CSKA were huge favorites in this game and they defended this name with a result 83-91. If it looks like Moscow won by a normal margin, the game went to a clutch whatsoever. This was a great final, with great players playing. Nando De Colo was the most efficient player for CSKA and helped to win the title for them the most. As a result, CSKA wins the 2019 Euroleague title.
Thank you for reading this review. Hope you enjoyed it! Have a great summer, stay tuned for more news on www.smashingtip.com and get ready for the new 2019-2020 Euroleague season!
Article Image is taken from https://www.euroleague.net/fan-corner/gallery/2018-19-season/i/9oe7sf9ss4puhlfc/final-four-vitoria-gasteiz-2019-cska-moscow-title-celebration