euroleague selections

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EB Pau-Orthez will host Unicaja Unicaja on Wednesday in France in what is most likely to be the home side's Euroleague finale this season and the big opportunity for the visitors to win Group C with their 12th straight victory. Although Pau still has a mathematical chance of moving on the the next round, it would need to record an astronomical victory over the group leaders to do so. Pau (4-9) is tied with Ulker and Montepaschi for fifth place in Group C, but since those two teams play each other as well on Wednesday night and both hold head-to-head tiebreak advantages over Pau. The best coach Didier Gadou's team can hope for is to place sixth. However, to have the best sixth-place record across all groups and claim the final spot in the Top 16, it needs to hope that Group A's Union Olimpija loses as well as both AJ Milano and Cibona Zagreb in Group B. Even then, the sum of its victory and Milano's loss would need to be greater than 77 points to Pau to finish as the best sixth-place team. The plot is similar if Olimpija win, in other words an impossibility for a team that averages just 70.6 points per game. Unicaja (11-2) has already ensured itself of being at top seed in Monday's Top 16 draw, but after working hard all season, coach Sergio Scarioli's team will be eager to win this game and finish the regular season in first place, a true accomplishment for a team that started the season hoping to qualify for the next round and lost its first two games. The last time these teams met was in December when Jorge Garbajosa had 16 points and 12 rebounds to pace Unicaja to an 81-73 home win. Pau has a new player that it will use in the battle against Unicaja's stars. With just two games under his belt, Alvin Sims will have a go at Marcus Brown (14.8 ppg.). Swingman Laurent Foirest will also be in the rotation after his long-awaited return from injury. Unicaja will be without center Daniel Santiago (12.8 ppg., 5.2 rpg.), who has been a force aver the past month, due to eye problems. Last week's return of Sandro Nicevic, whom Santiago replaced at the beginning of the season, has Unicaja covered inside. A big game for Nicevic against Brooks Sales (9.5 ppg., 6 rpg.) could make the difference for the visitors. The keys for Pau, which will look to run and score, are for Sales, Fuller and T.J. Lux to be aggressive on the glass and get the ball to playmaker Lonnie Cooper (11.8 ppg., 4.3 apg.), who can wreak havoc in transition alongside small forward Artur Drozdov (10 ppg.), who will have former Pau player Stephane Risacher (8.3 ppg.) and red-hot Berni Rodriguez (13.5 ppg. in 2006) to deal with, among others. Unicaja has everything it wants but first place, while Pau is essentially playing for pride in front of its fans, so expect the strength of those motivations to decide a winner on Wednesday. My pick will be Unicaja to win the game(-3 handicap)bookmaker:bet365.com