Cibona vs. Olympiacos

Two teams fighting for very different goals in Group H will face each other in Zagreb, Croatia, where Cibona hosts Olympiacos on Wednesday at the Drazen Petrovic Basketball Center. Cibona (0-3) needs to win to rejoin the Top 16 race, as it may lose all chances as soon as this week. And Olympiacos (3-0) will make it to the Quarterfinals Playoffs if it downs Cibona and BC Khimki Moscow Region (2-1) beats Caja Laboral (1-2). In that scenario, Laboral and Cibona would mathematically lose their chances to advance to the next round.

Life never was easy for Oly in Zagreb and this time story can repeat again. Olympiacos is more motivated and stronger side today but at home Cibona always fight until the end. After winning a cup we might expect some relaxation from Olympiacos and this may lead for possible upset. A lot will depend on Olympiacos motivation here. If they would come with same concetration and energy which was seen in Vittoria than there is no chance for croatians today even to grab handicap. If we will see light Olympiacos version as it was in Lithuania, France than everything is possible including Cibona's victory.

I personally think that 7-points handicap is a bit too high for away game in Euroleague especially on such hard court as in Zagreb. Most probably Olympiacos will take important victory but it should not an easy walkover.

Prediction: Olympiacos to win by 4-7 points.

Efes Pilsen - Maccabi

A truly pivotal game in Top 16 Group F takes places in Istanbul, Turkey, where Efes Pilsen hosts Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Efes (1-2) needs a win to stay in the fight to reach the Quarterfinal Playoffs. Meanwhile, Maccabi (2-1) is looking for what would be the first road win by any team in this group, improving its chances to advance in the process. Both teams met in Tel Aviv, Israel, two weeks ago and Maccabi topped Efes 72-62 behind 23 points and 9 rebounds from Alan Anderson.

Very tough game for betting. Both teams are in good conditions but for Efes  it is a must win situation, while Maccabi can be relaxed because nothing bad will happen if they lose by less than 10 points. And this is a kind of situation when I usually avoid betting on Turkish teams. Turkish team often can't get needed result under pressure while Maccabi without pressure can hurt anyone in Europe (maybe excluding Barcelona). In cup games Maccabi small players showed good performance and if Maccabi would feel well on offensive end they can win in Turkey.

Efes is right favorite in the line, but I prefer not to back them. I still consider Maccabi +3.5 as nice tv-watching pick.

Prokom - CSKA

CSKA Moscow has the chance to become the first team to advance to the Quarterfinal Playoffs from Top 16 Group G when it visits Asseco Prokom in Gdynia, Poland on Wednesday night. CSKA (3-0) advances if it beats Prokom (2-1) on the road, but will clinch first place and get the home court advantage in the best-of-five playoffs if Zalgiris (0-3) downs Unicaja (1-2), too. Prokom, however, will regain first place if it beats CSKA by at least 11 points. The two teams met in Moscow, Russia, two weeks ago and CSKA beat Prokom 84-73 behind 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks from Sasha Kaun.

CSKA did not control game pace in first game and had many troubles with running style of Prokom. But as soon as they turned the game to half-court offense everything went pretty well. This time CSKA should be better prepared for Prokom especially in defense. So far nobody was able to score more than 71 points to CSKA basket when russians played away from home and there is a big possibility that Prokom will fail too.

CSKA must control this game from start to end and take comfortable victory. The best choice here is to take under 152.5 because CSKA is not a 80-points scoring team away from home while defensively they should lock Polish champions in the 66-74 points range. +6.5/148.5 points looks like a more fair line for this game but there is no big value for a serious stake.  If Prokom starts strong in first quarter try to catch CSKA ML in-play at 1.7 and higher on Betfair or Bet365.