Canadians in Europe: 20th - 23rd April

This week saw the 2021 Euroleague playoffs get underway with the first two games of each of the ties being played. This saw two of Canada's top overseas players in action as they made their first moves towards a spot in the Final Four.

Both sets of fixtures saw Fenerbahce in a short-handed fight against the last team to win the Euroleague while in Spain there was nail-biting action and sensational results - with much of it courtesy of Kevin Pangos, it could best be described as 'Pangdemonium'.

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Dyshawn Pierre was forced to sit out Game 1 along with a number of other players missed by Fenerbahce in a hard-fought, heavy-handed loss to CSKA Moscow. After trailing by double-digits they struck back from long range to lead after thirty minutes played before CSKA put the nails in the coffin with a rampant fourth quarter - outscoring Fenerbahce 28-10 - finishing game one 92-76.

Pierre was back for Game 2, coming off the bench early on to help turn the back in Fenerbahce’s favour – the team quickly went from down five to up two by the first quarter’s end. In Q2 the Russian team powered ahead after catching fire from long range, after which Fenerbahce got to within one in the third before CSKA struck back from long range and coasted home on a comfortable lead.

Marko Guduric was the game’s top scorer with 27 points for the Turkish team and Pierre contributed 8, but the final result was CSKA Moscow’s. They moved to within one game of the final four with a 78-67 win over Fenerbahce, whose Euroleague hopes are now precariously balanced after two losses in the best-of-five series.

A back-and-forth start to their game one saw Zenit St. Petersburg lead by six before Barcelona took back the advantage after nine points unanswered. The Russian team then put their opponents on the back foot and were looking at a double-digit lead by the end of the half. Led by Kyle Kuric, in the space of three minutes Barcelona went from down by double digits to within two of Zenit.

Threes from Kevin Pangos and KC Rivers kept Zenit ahead after Barcelona tied the scores twice in the last two minutes. Then with ten seconds left Pangos knifed through the lane and dropped a floating layup, bringing his total to a game-high nineteen. Corey Higgins tried to follow it up but failed to get a three to drop on the other end. With that, it was first blood to Zenit with the shock result but well-earned win over the top seeds.

In game two Zenit had the best start before being overpowered in the paint on their end by Barcelona, the home team going from trailing by six to ending the first half ahead by seven. A flurry of threes and field goals saw Zenit tie the game at the end of the third, which was followed by three lead changes and Barcelona going up by six with 2:30 in regulation.

Pangos, Will Thomas and Tariq Black all drew fouls and made the awarded free-throws to tie, which sent the game to overtime. Black put Zenit into the lead which they held until the final minute. Pangos had hit seven in a row for Zenit but Adam Hanga, after putting Barcelona up by three with thirteen seconds left, made a steal off Pangos to seal the result.

Despite the Pangdemonium continuing, with Pangos surpassing his game one performance with 23 points, Barcelona prevailed with the victory and levelled the series after the 81-78 OT win.

This was the only series tied after two games - as well as CSKA leading Fenerbahce 2-0, elsewhere Efes Istanbul lead Real Madrid after two big wins on their home court, while Olimpia Milano scored more narrow wins over Bayern Munich to need just one more win to make the Final Four. The first finalists could be decided this coming week when the playoffs continue, until then check out the official Euroleague website for updates and highlights of all games.