Duško Ivanović took over Baskonia at the beginning of the season when they were one of the worst teams in the Euroleague, and the Montenegrin coach's great work in the elite competition was rewarded tonight.
The Basques secured the play-in before the end of the round after defeating the best team in Europe - they were better than Real in Madrid 95:91.
It was the 17th triumph of Ivanovic's team, which had the seal of Marcus Howard - he scored 35 points, including seven three-pointers, followed by Matt Costello with 19.
In Real, Mario Hezonja was the best with 18...
Baskonia's victory reduced Partizan's chances of reaching the play-offs, and the current ABA league champion did not like the result from the Istanbul derby in which Anadolu Efes was better than Fenerbahce - 82:80, on the wings of Will Clyburn (21).
Efes has won more than Partizan, and in the last round they welcome Crvena zvezda, which is the only chance left for Željko Obradović's team.
Partizan must therefore defeat Valencia in Belgrade and hope for a victory by Zvezda in order to reach the play-offs...
Olimpija Milano is also in the play-in game, after the triumph over Virtus (90:75), which in the last round needs to celebrate against Maccabi in Belgrade and wait for the defeats of Efes and Partizan...
Panathinaikos was better than Bayern in Munich (82:75), so it practically secured one of the first four places in the standings and home field advantage in the quarterfinals...
Bonus video:
