The stage is set for plenty of drama to unfold on the last day of Top16, a date that is rich in season-defining wins and losses all throughout Euroleague Top16 history. Here’s a look back.

• In 2003/04, Maccabi Tel Aviv needed to beat Zalgiris (who had 39-year-old Arvydas Sabonis bossing the paint) in Yad Eliyahu to advance to the Final Four but trailed by five points with six seconds left. This was before a most improbable chain of events took place:
  
  1. David Bluthenthal airballs a three pointer (think about that!).
  2. The ball is picked up by Nikola Vujcic, who makes a lay up to cut the lead to three.
  3. Zalgiris inbound the ball to Giedrius Gustas, who is fouled by Sarunas Jasikevicius (the author of 37 points) with 2.2 seconds left, his fifth foul.
  4. Gustas, 18 for 19 from the free throw line for the season up to this point, misses his first foul shot.
  5. Gustas misses his second foul shot. That’s bad but still not fatal since Maccabi would be unlikely to get a good shot when rebounding the basketball at their own basket with two seconds left.
  6. But wait, Tanoka Beard commits the most famous lane-violation in European basketball history!
  7. Gur Shelef throws a baseball pass three quarters the length of the court (Zalgiris do not challenge the inbounds pass) into the hands of Derrick Sharp, who catches, takes one dribble, and nails the three point shot at the buzzer.

  Maccabi went on to win the game 107-99 in over time and take the Euroleague championship crushing Skipper Bologna in the finals – the first of two Euroleague titles in the Anthony Parker era.

• In the same season, Maccabi’s finals opponent Skipper Bologna needed to win in Pau-Orthez to advance to the Final Four (this was before the Quarter Finals were set in place in the 2004/05 season). Skipper, who had a super-talented roster featuring the likes of Carlos Delfino, Matjaz Smodis, Gianluca Basile, 20-year-old Erazem Lorbek and 18-year-old Marco Belinelli, just barely edged the team from the Pyrenees 81-80 behind two free throws from Milos Vujanic with 3.8 seconds left.
• In 2004/05, Ülker Istanbul (Serkan Erdogan, Saulius Stombergas, Eurelijus Zukauskas) rallied back from nine down with five minutes to go against Cibona to advance to the quarter finals. Ülker would have been eliminated through point differential in a three-way-tie with Montepaschi and Cibona. They lost to heavy favourites CSKA in the quarter finals.
• In the same season, a ridiculously talented Tau Vitoria (Pablo Prigioni, Jose Manuel Calderon, Arvydas Macijauskas, Luis Scola and 20-year-old Tiago Splitter) just made it to the quarter finals with a tough 86-82 road win over Zalgiris when a loss would have ended their season. They went on to the Final Four where they shocked Dusan Ivkovic’s 21-1, Final Four-hosting CSKA Moscow 85-78 in the semis before falling 78-90 to Maccabi in the final.
• Still in 2004/05, Panathinaikos needed to defeat Climamio (the former Skipper) Bologna by 18 points to advance to the quarter finals. They won by 23 behind Jaka Lakovic’s 26 and new acquisition Dimitris Diamantidis’ 16, 6 and 5. Panathinaikos went on to reach the Final Four but lost to Maccabi in the semis.
• Still in the same season, Efes Pilsen needed a win over AEK to advance to the quarter finals. They did that, by seven, but this was anyone’s game with 90 seconds left on the clock before Henry Domercant hit the dagger from downtown.
• In 2005/06, Real Madrid, playing without their injured star Louis Bullock, needed a win in Bologna to finish first ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv but lost 61-66 as they went 17 for 49 from the field and committed 20 turnovers. Instead of facing Olympiakos with home court advantage they were up against FC Barcelona without home court, lost both road games and were eliminated. Maccabi defeated Olympiakos 2-1 but lost to CSKA in the final in Ettore Messina’s first season in Moscow.
• In 2006/07, Dusan Ivkovic’s Dynamo Moscow needed a win over Benetton to advance to the quarter finals. They did that, in overtime, 68-65. Antonis Fotsis had a record-setting 24 rebounds. Dynamo lost to later champions Panathinaikos in the quarter finals.
• In 2007/08, a young Partizan needed a win over reigning champions Panathinaikos, who were fielding a super-expensive team including three top five Euroleague playmakers at the time (Diamantidis, Jasikevicius, Spanoulis) to make a sensational entry to the quarter finals. They won 82-73 behind Dusan Kecman’s 16, 13 and 5, who was signed by Panathinaikos the following season (as was Nikola Pekovic), where he was an end-of-the-bench player. Pekovic and Tiago Splitter had an epic center battle in the quarter finals, but – for Partizan – to no avail.
• In the same season, FC Barcelona needed a win over the dominant CSKA Moscow (who later went on to win the title) to advance past Unicaja for quarter final participation. They won 64-62 as J.R. Holden (0 for 8 that day) missed one at the buzzer.
• In 2008/09, the newly-formed Olympiakos, featuring multimillion Euro signings Theodoros Papaloukas, Josh Childress and Nikola Vujcic (among others) needed a road win in Vitoria-Gasteiz, of all places, to get home court advantage in the quarter finals. They played arguably their best game of the season, edging Tau 88-80 and setting up a quarter finals clash with Real Madrid, at the successful end of which the iconic Papaloukas famously waved a friendly bye-bye to the Vistalegre crowd.
  
  
• In 2009/10, Real Madrid needed a home win over Maccabi Tel Aviv to seal home court advantage for the playoffs. The Spaniards led by 19 in the first half, by nine at the beginning of the fourth but could not recover when Chuck Eidson gave Maccabi their first lead of the night with only little more than a minute left. Instead of hosting Partizan in the quarter finals, Real Madrid had to face the dominant Regal FC Barcelona without home court advantage in the quarter finals. Both teams lost, as Barca expectedly and Partizan surprisingly advanced to the Final Four.
• In 2010/11, Real Madrid had already sealed first spot when they lost a seemingly meaningless home game against Montepaschi Siena. A day later Ettore Messina announced his resignation as head coach citing differences with the club management. Real edged Valencia in the quarter finals, with home court advantage.
• In the same season, a loss in Malaga would have eliminated later champions Panathinaikos from the competition, but they won by 16.
• In 2011/12, in similar fashion, Olympiakos were 2-3 facing Galatasaray (3-2) on the last day of Top16. They edged the guests 88-81 in a not ultimately close but nerve-wracking affair, earning the right to have their season ended by the championship-contending, experienced, talented Montepaschi Siena. Oh, well …
• Bilbao needed a win in Malaga to advance to the quarter finals and end Real Madrid’s quest for a Euroleague title. They grinded out a 59-55 win before nearly taking CSKA Moscow to five games in the quarter finals.