Looks that this year Euroleague Top 16 if full of surprises and second round games will be something really interesting to watch... Let's have a look on today's matches because this evening we might see another Euroleague thrillers.

Maccabi Tel Aviv - Real Madrid

Maccabi news:
- Yaniv Green missed Tuesday's practice with an undisclosed injury and will be a gameday decision to face Real Madrid.

Real Madrid news:
- Felipe Reyes is not expected to play against Maccabi in Tel Aviv due to an unspecified injury
- Tomas Van den Spiegel will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury.
- Ante Tomic could make his Euroleague debut with Madrid this week.
- Louis Bullock missed Madrid’s last Spanish League game with a problem with the index finger on his shooting hand, but is expected to play against Maccabi.
- Travis Hansen returned to action in the Spanish League after a foot injury and is available to play this week.

With or without Bulock I can't see Real having 50% chances of winning this game. Ok, they are powerful, they are public team and their crisir is gone but Nokia arena is Nokia arena and its factor is absolutely ignored. If Maccabi is (-1.5) favorite in this game it means that Real would be 3.5-4.5 points favorite on neutral ground. I can't agree with this.

Real had a lot troubles with AJ Milano without its leader, they won against Efes at home with many difficulties being healthy... and now they again have Reyes out of the game, Bullock questionable, Vidal is ignored by Messina, Hansen out of form after injury, Tomic is too young to be a factor in such game. And on other side we have healthy Maccabi which will have huge arena support and better motivation because they can't lose this game while Real can afford a few points loss.

Maccabi still has some some offensive troubles but they are also very good in defense this year. With Nokia arena support I expect them to raise a bit offensively and take important win over Real.

P.S. Finally Maccabi was 7.5 pts favorite against Caja Laboral one month ago. And Caja is stronger than Real imo..

Pick: Maccabi to win @ 1.86 Betfair 5/10

Cibona - Caja Laboral

Cibona news:

- Marin Rozic will be sidelined for several months with an Achilles injury.
- Dalibor Bagaric is questionable due to injury.

Caja Laboral news:

- Tiago Splitter will miss at least two weeks with an ankle injury.
- Brad Oleson is expected to travel to Zagreb but following a long-term ankle injury it is uncertain if he will play.
- Stanko Barac is expected to miss the first half of the Top 16 with a stress fracture in his left foot.

Cibona will be a big test for Caja's class. Without 2 centers it will be interesting to see coaching puzzle in this game against tall Cibona players. Caja for sure has higher class and better players but a lot will depend on their shooting today. If they will find a way to score 80 points to Cibona defense they will win, if not expect another thriller game awaits us.

I would pick Cibona if they would be 6.5-7 points dogs here but +5 is more looks like an outcome bet because if Cibona will lose most probably margin would 4-7 poitns and 5 points will have no value. Skip for me.

Maroussi - Panathinaikos

Panathinaikos news:
- Kostas Tsartsaris has a broken bone in his left hand that will cause him to miss the Top 16.
- Mike Batiste could make his return to action this week after suffering a tear in a calf muscle in a domestic game two weeks ago.

Maroussi news:
Fanis Koumpouras has recovered from his leg injury and could play this week.
- Levon Kendall has begun light training after suffering ligament damage in his left ankle earlier this season. He could join Maroussi’s active roster this week.
- Igkor Milosevits has transferred to Lietuvos Rytas and is no longer a part of the Maroussi roster.
- Giorgos Diamantopoulos remains sidelined with a back injury.

Pao can't lose 2nd game in a row at home (yes, at home because as you know Maroussi playing Euroleague games in OAKA arena which belongs to PAO). With Batiste healthy Obradovic will get important offensive weapon which should decide offensive problems for PAO. Defensively PAO looks confident and should stop Maroussi under 72 points.

I expect PAO to raise its offensive game and score 80-86 points so PAO over 79.5 is a good option if you have account at Sportingbet or 10Bet.