2018 EuroLeague Final Four

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

CSKA Moscow   v   Real Madrid

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 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

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.

Fenerbahçe Doğuş   v   Žalgiris Kaunas

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 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

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