2018 EuroLeague Final Four

2018 EuroLeague Final Four
	The official logo was unveiled on 13 February 2018
Season	2017–18 EuroLeague
Tournament details
Arena	Štark Arena ; Belgrade, Serbia
Dates	18–20 May 2018
Final positions
Champions	Real Madrid (10th title)
Runners-up	Fenerbahçe Doğuş
Third place	Žalgiris
Fourth place	CSKA Moscow
Awards and statistics
MVP	Luka Dončić
	← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 EuroLeague Final Four was the concluding EuroLeague Final Four tournament of the 2017–18 EuroLeague season, the 61st season of Europe's premier club basketball tournament, and the 18th season since it was organised by Euroleague Basketball. It was the 31st Final Four of the modern EuroLeague Final Four era (1988–present), and the 33rd time overall that the competition had concluded with a final four format. The Final Four was played at the Štark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia, on 18 and 20 May 2018.^[2]

Venue

On 26 October 2016 Euroleague Basketball announced that the Final Four would be held in the Štark Arena in Belgrade.^[2] It is designed as a universal hall for sports, cultural events and other programs. It was the first time the EuroLeague Final Four was hosted in Belgrade, or in the country of Serbia. The Arena's total floor area is 48,000 square metres. For sports, it has a regular seating capacity for fans of 18,386, and also has 70 luxury boxes, which include a total of 860 seats.^[3] The arena's cost was estimated at €70 million.^[4] Štark Arena is a member of the European Arenas Association (EAA).^[5]

Belgrade	Belgrade 2018 EuroLeague Final Four (Europe)
Štark Arena
Capacity: 18,386

Background

CSKA Moscow

CSKA Moscow finished the regular season as the number one seed, after having a 24–6 record. In the quarter-finals, the team played another Russian side in Khimki. CSKA won the series 3–1 over Khimki, after a controversial 88–89 win in Game 4.^[6] In the United League season, CSKA was in second place while battling for the first seed.

Fenerbahçe Doğuş

Fenerbahçe finished second in the regular season and defeated Kirolbet Baskonia in the quarter-finals. Fenerbahçe reached the Final Four for a fourth straight year. Head coach Željko Obradović had the opportunity to win his tenth EuroLeague title, a record for most titles by a coach.

Real Madrid

Madrid battled injuries during the regular season, as Sergio Llull, Ognjen Kuzmić and Rudy Fernández missed most of the games. As a five-seed, the team beat Panathinaikos in a controversial quarterfinal series, 1–3. The star player for Madrid during the season was Luka Dončić, who led the league in Performance Index Rating (PIR), and was later a top-three pick in the 2018 NBA draft. Dončić's games during the Final Four were televised in the United States, by NBA TV.

In the 2017–18 ACB season, Real Madrid was the number one seed.

Žalgiris

In the regular season, Žalgiris qualified as the sixth seed. Žalgiris won the series over favored Olympiacos, 3–1. For EuroLeague Legend Šarūnas Jasikevičius, this was his first visit to the Final Four as a head coach and also for the club since 1999. In its domestic LKL season, the club dominated as well, as it was in a secure first seed.

Bracket

Semifinals		Championship game

18 May

CSKA Moscow	83
		20 May
Real Madrid	92
		Real Madrid	85
18 May
		Fenerbahçe Doğuş	80
Fenerbahçe Doğuş	76

Žalgiris	67
		Third place game

		20 May

		CSKA Moscow	77

		Žalgiris	79

Semifinals

Semifinal A

Russian champions CSKA Moscow returned to the Final Four to make it their seventh consecutive semi-final appearance. CSKA guard Sergio Rodríguez would play the semi-final against his former club, which he won the EuroLeague title with in 2015, as well as the EuroLeague MVP award in 2014.

Real Madrid would play its fourth Final Four in five years. The match would be a re-match of the 2017 third-place game. During the regular season, both teams won their respective games at home, with this game being considered a Real Madrid home game.

18 May 2018	CSKA Moscow	83–92	Real Madrid	Belgrade, Serbia
21:00 UTC+02:00	Scoring by quarter: 30–20, 16–27, 10–16, 27–29
	Pts: De Colo 20 Rebs: Hines 9 Asts: Rodríguez 6 PIR: Hines 23	Boxscore	Pts: Dončić, Llull 16 Rebs: Ayón 11 Asts: Llull 5 PIR: three players 18	Arena: Štark Arena Attendance: 15,232 Referees: Luigi Lamonica (ITA), Robert Lottermoser (GER), Matej Boltauzer (SLO)

Starters:			Pts	Reb	Ast

PG	13	Sergio Rodríguez	5	2	6
SG	22	Cory Higgins	15	2	3
SF	41	Nikita Kurbanov	7	1	0
PF	11	Semyon Antonov	0	0	0
C	44	Othello Hunter	4	7	0
Reserves:
PG	1	Nando de Colo	20	1	1
C	3	Victor Rudd	0	0	0
SG	7	Vitaly Fridzon	0	0	0
PF	20	Andrey Vorontsevich	0	1	1
SF	21	Will Clyburn	16	7	2
PF	31	Victor Khryapa	0	1	0
C	42	Kyle Hines	16	9	1
Head coach:
Dimitrios Itoudis

CSKA Moscow

Real Madrid

0

CSKA	Statistics	R.Madrid
	Statistics
18/44 (40.9%)	2-pt field goals	17/34 (50%)
10/24 (41.7%)	3-pt field goals	12/27 (44.4%)
17/19 (89.5%)	Free throws	22/36 (61.1%)
13	Offensive rebounds	14
25	Defensive rebounds	29
38	Total rebounds	43
14	Assists	20
13	Turnovers	13
4	Steals	6
3	Blocks	5
29	Fouls	22

Starters:			Pts	Reb	Ast

PG	11	Facundo Campazzo	0	1	1
SG	7	Luka Dončić	16	7	2
SF	44	Jeffery Taylor	3	1	0
PF	9	Felipe Reyes	5	2	0
C	14	Gustavo Ayón	12	11	1
Reserves:
SG	1	Fabien Causeur	6	2	3
PF	3	Anthony Randolph	2	2	2
SF	5	Rudy Fernández	6	2	2
SG	20	Jaycee Carroll	9	2	3
C	22	Edy Tavares	5	0	0
PG	23	Sergio Llull	16	0	5
PF	33	Trey Thompkins	12	6	1
Head coach:
Pablo Laso

Semifinal B

Defending champions Fenerbahçe Doğuş returned to the Final Four to make it their third straight appearance. Led by head coach Željko Obradović, the all-time record holder for most EuroLeague championships won by a head coach, it defeated Kirolbet Baskonia 1–3 in the quarter-finals, to clinch a semi-final spot.

Žalgiris Kaunas qualified for its first Final Four in 20 years, as the last time the team participated was in 1999, where it claimed the championship as well. The club beat Olympiacos 3–1 in the play-offs, despite not having home court advantage.

18 May 2018	Fenerbahçe Doğuş	76–67	Žalgiris Kaunas	Belgrade, Serbia
18:00 UTC+02:00	Scoring by quarter: 19–13, 20–20, 15–17, 22–17
	Pts: Muhammed 19 Rebs: Düverioğlu 5 Asts: Melli 6 PIR: Muhammed 18	Boxscore	Pts: Pangos 16 Rebs: Davies 11 Asts: Micić, Pangos 4 PIR: Davies 21	Arena: Štark Arena Attendance: 16,967 Referees: Daniel Hierrezuelo (ESP), Sreten Radović (CRO), Oļegs Latiševs (LAT)

Starters:			Pts	Reb	Ast

PG	11	Brad Wanamaker	9	1	3
SG	23	Marko Gudurić	0	0	1
SF	33	Nikola Kalinić	2	1	2
PF	24	Jan Veselý	8	3	0
C	44	Ahmet Düverioğlu	4	5	0
Reserves:
PF	1	Jason Thompson	0	2	0
PF	4	Nicolò Melli	4	3	6
SG	10	Melih Mahmutoğlu	DNP
PG	16	Kostas Sloukas	14	1	3
SF	21	James Nunnally	0	0	1
PG	35	Ali Muhammed	19	1	0
SF	70	Luigi Datome	16	2	0
Head coach:
Željko Obradović

Fenerbahçe

Žalgiris

0

Fenerbahçe	Statistics	Žalgiris
	Statistics
24/42 (57.1%)	2-pt field goals	21/40 (52.5%)
7/18 (38.9%)	3-pt field goals	2/10 (20%)
7/11 (63.6%)	Free throws	19/27 (70.4%)
9	Offensive rebounds	16
13	Defensive rebounds	21
22	Total rebounds	37
16	Assists	13
10	Turnovers	20
13	Steals	5
3	Blocks	2
27	Fouls	19

Starters:			Pts	Reb	Ast

PG	3	Kevin Pangos	16	5	4
SG	92	Edgaras Ulanovas	7	3	0
SF	6	Axel Toupane	6	1	1
PF	13	Paulius Jankūnas	4	4	0
C	0	Brandon Davies	12	11	2
Reserves:
PG	9	Beno Udrih	2	1	0
C	19	Martynas Sajus	DNP
SG	21	Artūras Milaknis	0	0	1
SG	22	Vasilije Micić	5	1	4
PF	30	Aaron White	10	6	0
C	44	Antanas Kavaliauskas	5	2	1
PG	66	Paulius Valinskas	DNP
Head coach:
Šarūnas Jasikevičius

Third place game

20 May 2018	CSKA Moscow	77–79	Žalgiris Kaunas	Belgrade
17:00 UTC+02:00	Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 16–19, 13–28, 29–10
	Pts: Kulagin, Hunter 14 Rebs: Hunter 8 Asts: three players 3 PIR: Hunter 25	Boxscore	Pts: Jankūnas, Micić 15 Rebs: White 7 Asts: Pangos, Micić 4 PIR: Jankūnas 17	Arena: Štark Arena Attendance: 14,548 Referees: Daniel Hierrezuelo (ESP), Elias Koromilas (GRE), Robert Lottermoser (GER)

Starters:			Pts	Reb	Ast

PG	13	Sergio Rodríguez	9	1	3
SG	22	Cory Higgins	12	3	0
SF	41	Nikita Kurbanov	0	0	3
PF	11	Semyon Antonov	0	0	1
C	44	Othello Hunter	14	8	0
Reserves:
PG	1	Nando de Colo	5	1	2
C	3	Victor Rudd	7	1	1
SG	7	Vitaly Fridzon	5	0	0
SF	21	Will Clyburn	2	3	1
PG	30	Mikhail Kulagin	14	2	1
PF	31	Victor Khryapa	3	1	0
C	42	Kyle Hines	6	3	3
Head coach:
Dimitrios Itoudis