EUROLEAGUE – Play-off places up for grabs in Euroleague

ATHENS (Euroleague) - Maroussi are drinking in the last-chance saloon on Thursday night in the Euroleague when they take on Panathinaikos in the Top 16.

Georgios Bartzokas' team won the first meeting between the Athens clubs and need to prevail the second time around to have a chance of progressing to the Quarter-Finals from Group E.

Even then a victory may not be enough for Maroussi because if Partizan Belgrade (3-2) win at Regal Barcelona (4-1), the Serbian club will clinch second spot and move on to the last eight.

Maroussi know they have a chance because the way Barca have been playing of late, it's going to be a very big ask for anyone to beat them.

All Maroussi (2-3) can do is control what happens in their game against Panathinaikos.

If both Maroussi and Partizan finish 3-3, the Greeks will advance due to a superior goal differential in their meetings with the Serbian team.

"It’s a now or never situation," said Maroussi big man Dimitrios Mavroeidis.

"Last game, last chance, what more can I say? We think of the game like a final and this is the way we approach this game against Panathinaikos."

Caja Laboral and BC Khimki are both 2-3 and battling it out for second place in Group H.

Caja Laboral are at home to Cibona Zagreb (1-4) while Khimki face Olympiacos (5-0) in Russia.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, will square off in the Spanish capital against Maccabi Tel Aviv in a fight for first place in Group F.

Both sides go into the game with 3-2 records.

In Wednesday night’s only game, CSKA Moscow defeated Zalgiris Kaunas 84-71.

CSKA (5-1) had already clinched first place in Group G while Zalgiris (2-4) had no chance of progressing.

FIBA