First Euroleague playoff were full of super and bad perfomances but on Thursday I hope results will be more logical and profitable.

CSKA Moscow - Caja Laboral

Caja Laboral never was in the game in Game 1 but I think that was a part of D.Ivanovis series plan because he wanted to give Splitter more time to adapt on the court and to understand whom he can trust in this series. He tried all his players in Game 1 and saved a lot of team energy for important Game 2. Sure this Caja Laboral is not so strong as its previuos version with Rakocevic and Mikael but it is still one the best away teams in Europe and 2nd team in Spain after Barcelona.

CSKA played ideal game and won easily by 23 points. They set season loss record by doing only 7 turnovers, they controlled rebound 36-26, Vorontsevic came from the bench and set personal scoring record. Too much positive records for one game and Game 2 should be a quality test for CSKA.

CSKA is for sure in better form and that should help them to take 2-0 lead in the series but this time things are not going to be so easy as they were in Game 1. Caja will find a way to penetrate into the zone and make damage there with help of Splitter and Barac (he was a non-factor in Game 1). Also D.Ivanovic is more experienced coach and his experience should be a factor in this series too.

Prediction: CSKA 77 - 73 Caja Laboral

Pick: Caja L +8.5 @ 1.85 5/10 William Hill

Maccabi - Partizan

Partizan shocked Nokia Arena on Tuesday when won after being down by 22 points in first half. Maccabi showed very powerful defense in 1st half but they allowed some relax at the end of 2nd quarter - that cost them start of 3rd quarter and than it was impossible to stop Kecman.

Maccabi should improve its defensive game and make things hard for Partizan difficult in offense for all 40 minutes if they want to win this game and have a realistic chance in these series. I expect Maccabi domination today on the field but I also have some doubts about their ability to score a lot of points and that is why I prefer to take under 149.5 points against rather than taking Maccabi (-8).

Prediction: Maccabi 75 - 67 Partizan

Pick: Under 149.5 @ 1.91 5/10 William Hill

Olympiacos - Prokom

Olympiacos did not take Prokom seriuosly from the beginning of the game and Prokom took a starting lead 11-0. After that Olympiacos opened eyes and started to control the game and they never lost that control until the end. But Oly was not a dominate side in Game 1 because they did not want to be it. They played with feeling that they will take this in any case.

Honestly speaking I hate Olympiacos when they play like on Tuesday. I like them when they are top motivated and wants to win at all costs.. And it does not look really concentrated on trashing Prokom. Sure they can win by 20+ pts against Prokom but I don't know if they want it.

I expect Prokom to score in the 68-75 points range today, but Olympiacos can score more and will score. Maybe they will stop playing on offense, maybe not.. and I prefer to skip this game now especially after bookies moved total line down to 164.5.

Prediction: Olympiacos 88 - 72 Prokom

Regal Barcelona - Real Madrid

Navarro 0/6 3-pointers, Lakovic - 0 points, Sada - 0 points, Morris - 0 points, Basile 2/8 FG, Rubio 7 points + 3 assists + 4 turnovers... Any other team would lose a game if so many players are in bad form. But not Barca. Barca still winning its game because of their superb defense and winning mentality. Also because Real Madrid can't find offensive game against Barca defense as a team.

I think that value is on Real Madrid here but I prefer not to bet against Barcelona especially on their court. You never know when Lakovic will nail 5/7 3-pointers or Navarro score 28 points.. It is impossible to predict when Real finally will look as a true team.. Too much of unpredictable moments are factors in this clash and for now I prefer to stay away from betting on sides here.

As for total I think that it is very risky now to bet under because Real showed that they can up to 70-75 points but they always have dead periods for 3-5 minutes when they can't score points. It is better to wait for over opportunity in this series at in-play or in next games if this game will go under the total again.

Prediction: Regal Barcelona 74 - 69 Real Madrid