2018 EuroLeague Final Four
# 2018 EuroLeague Final Four

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.

## Venue

On 26 October 2016 Euroleague Basketball announced that the Final Four would be held in the Štark Arena in Belgrade. 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. The arena's cost was estimated at €70 million. Štark Arena is a member of the European Arenas Association (EAA).

| Belgrade | Belgrade2018 EuroLeague Final Four (Europe) |
| - | - |
| Štark Arena | Belgrade2018 EuroLeague Final Four (Europe) |
| Capacity: 18,386 | Belgrade2018 EuroLeague Final Four (Europe) |

## 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. 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 | Semifinals | Championship game | Championship game |
| - | - | - | - |
| 18 May | 18 May |
| CSKA Moscow | 83 |
| CSKA Moscow | 83 | 20 May | 20 May |
| Real Madrid | 92 | 20 May | 20 May |
| Real Madrid | 92 | Real Madrid | 85 |
| 18 May | 18 May | | Real Madrid | 85 |
| 18 May | 18 May | Fenerbahçe Doğuş | 80 |
| Fenerbahçe Doğuş | 76 | Fenerbahçe Doğuş | 80 |
| Žalgiris | 67 | | |
| Žalgiris | 67 | Third place game | Third place game |
| | | 20 May | 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.

| Starters: | Starters: | 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: | Reserves: | 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 |
| CSKA | Statistics | R.Madrid |
| 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: | Starters: | 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: | Reserves: | 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.

| Starters: | Starters: | 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: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PF | 1 | Jason Thompson | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| PF | 4 | Nicolò Melli | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| SG | 10 | Melih Mahmutoğlu | DNP | DNP | 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 |
| Fenerbahçe | Statistics | Žalgiris |
| 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: | Starters: | 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: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PG | 9 | Beno Udrih | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| C | 19 | Martynas Sajus | DNP | DNP | 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 | DNP | DNP |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Šarūnas Jasikevičius ||||||

## Third place game

| Starters: | Starters: | 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: | Reserves: | 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 ||||||
| CSKA Moscow | Žalgiris |
| CSKA | Statistics | Žalgiris |
| 14/37 (37.8%) | 2-pt field goals | 25/43 (58.1%) |
| 12/29 (41.4%) | 3-pt field goals | 5/11 (45.5%) |
| 13/24 (54.2%) | Free throws | 14/21 (66.7%) |
| 13 | Offensive rebounds | 10 |
| 18 | Defensive rebounds | 27 |
| 31 | Total rebounds | 37 |
| 15 | Assists | 16 |
| 9 | Turnovers | 19 |
| 8 | Steals | 1 |
| 5 | Blocks | 1 |
| 23 | Fouls | 25 |
| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| PG | 3 | Kevin Pangos | 9 | 1 | 4 |
| SG | 92 | Edgaras Ulanovas | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| SF | 6 | Axel Toupane | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| PF | 13 | Paulius Jankūnas | 15 | 5 | 2 |
| C | 0 | Brandon Davies | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PG | 9 | Beno Udrih | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| PF | 20 | Gytis Masiulis | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| SG | 21 | Artūras Milaknis | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| SG | 22 | Vasilije Micić | 15 | 4 | 4 |
| PF | 30 | Aaron White | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| C | 44 | Antanas Kavaliauskas | 9 | 5 | 0 |
| PG | 66 | Paulius Valinskas | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Šarūnas Jasikevičius ||||||

## Championship game

| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| PG | 11 | Facundo Campazzo | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SG | 7 | Luka Dončić | 15 | 3 | 4 |
| SF | 1 | Fabien Causeur | 17 | 2 | 2 |
| PF | 9 | Felipe Reyes | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| C | 14 | Gustavo Ayón | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PF | 3 | Anthony Randolph | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| SF | 5 | Rudy Fernández | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| SG | 20 | Jaycee Carroll | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 22 | Edy Tavares | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| PG | 23 | Sergio Llull | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| PF | 33 | Trey Thompkins | 10 | 5 | 1 |
| SF | 44 | Jeffery Taylor | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Pablo Laso ||||||
| Real Madrid | Fenerbahçe |
| R.Madrid | Statistics | Fenerbahçe |
| 16/32 (50%) | 2-pt field goals | 21/39 (53.8%) |
| 9/21 (42.9%) | 3-pt field goals | 7/20 (35%) |
| 26/34 (76.5%) | Free throws | 17/20 (85%) |
| 13 | Offensive rebounds | 10 |
| 24 | Defensive rebounds | 19 |
| 37 | Total rebounds | 29 |
| 16 | Assists | 17 |
| 12 | Turnovers | 12 |
| 8 | Steals | 4 |
| 3 | Blocks | 2 |
| 26 | Fouls | 27 |

* 2017–18 EuroLeague champions
* Real Madrid 10th title

| Starters: | Starters: | Starters: | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| PG | 11 | Brad Wanamaker | 14 | 5 | 5 |
| SG | 23 | Marko Gudurić | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| SF | 33 | Nikola Kalinić | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| PF | 24 | Jan Veselý | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| C | 44 | Ahmet Düverioğlu | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Reserves: | Reserves: | Reserves: | | | |
| PF | 1 | Jason Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PF | 4 | Nicolò Melli | 28 | 6 | 1 |
| SG | 10 | Melih Mahmutoğlu | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PG | 16 | Kostas Sloukas | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| SF | 21 | James Nunnally | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| PG | 35 | Ali Muhammed | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| SF | 70 | Luigi Datome | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| Head coach: ||||||
| Željko Obradović ||||||
