Thursday's preview
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ByEurosport
Published 08/03/2007 at 13:19 GMT
Italian champions Benetton Treviso host Spanish champions Unicaja Málaga in a match with major Euroleague quarter-finals implications. Follow LIVE coverage of all of the evening's matches starting with Prokom Trefl v Barcelona from 18:00 CET.
BASKETBALL 2006-2007 Benetton Treviso
Image credit: Eurosport
Benetton, Malaga and Dynamo Moscow are all in a three-way tie for first-place in Group G at 2-1 and Thursday's matches will go a long way towards determining which teams go through.
The Italians are coming off of a stunning 80-79 road-victory over Aris TT and will also be motivated to avenge their 75-61 loss at Malaga in the Top 16 opener.
"The most important thing after the win in Thessaloniki is that a great part of our future is now in our hands," said Benetton forward and New Zealand international Spencer Nelson.
Unicaja head coach Sergio Scariolo described the match as critical in the race to the next round.
"This game in Treviso is, of course, a crucial point in our dream to reach something never before achieved in the history of the club, which would be to qualify for the quarter-finals," Scariolo said.
Unicaja point guard Pepe Sanchez makes his return to Malaga's squad after serving a one-game suspension in the Spanish league, while Benetton will be without Erazem Lorbek, who has moved to Lottomatica Roma.
Dynamo will try to hold onto a share of the top spot in the group when they face bottom-basement Aris TT (0-3), who need to win in Moscow to keep their quarter-finals hopes alive.
Aris will be without last-minute absentees Mahmoud Abudl-Rauf and Spyros Panteliadis, while Dynamo are missing former Maryland center Obinna Ezekie and Miroslav Raicevic due to injury.
Greek star center Lazaros Papadopoulos scored 18 points to help Dynamo to an 86-74 road-win when the two clubs faced in the Top 16 opener in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Papa-D will again be critical to the 2006 ULEB Cup champion's attack as well as the focus of the Aris TT defense.
In the night's critical Group F match-up Efes Pilsen (0-3) will be desperate for a win when they host Panathinaikos (3-0), who can clinch a place in the quarter-finals with a victory.
Panathinaikos demolished Efes 84-57 at home in the Top 16 opener last month and the Greens are 4-2 against the Turkish giants in the last three seasons.
Having released their previous leading scorer Horace Jenkins (14.5 ppg.) and lost Cenk Akyol to injury, Efes will rely on Drew Nicholas to take over in the backcourt.
With two of their last three Top 16 games at home Prokom (1-2) still have a chance to advance to the quarter-finals, but will need a win when they host Barcelona (2-1) in Sopot.
Euroleague leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro (17.7 ppg) will be eager to recover from a mere four-point performance when Barca thrashed Prokom 92-73 at home in the Top 16 opener.
Big-man Mario Kasun is still missing from the Barcelona line-up, so Jordi Trias and Fran Vazquez will again have to step things up in the paint.
Follow LIVE coverage of all of the evening's Top 16 matches on www.eurosport.com starting at 18:00 CET with Prokom Trefl v Barcelona.
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