Intro:

Barcelona beat Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul 84-63 and Real Madrid defeated Olympiacos Piraeus 82-77 in the Euroleague basketball playoffs on Thursday. The Spaniards both hold 2-0 leads respectively in the best-of-five series.

Script:

Barcelona moved within one victory of returning to the Final Four after beating Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul 84-63 on Thursday.

In the final quarter, Barca's Alex Abrines landed this huge alley-oop dunk to make it 66-41.

Gala grabbed a consolation thanks to Henry Domercant but the Catalans saw it out to move 2-0 ahead in the best-of-five playoffs series.

Elsewhere in the playoffs, Real Madrid footballer Xabi Alonso won the Copa on Wednesday and his basketball counterparts were also victorious when they beat Olympiacos Piraeus 82-77 on Thursday.

In the first quarter, this three-pointer by Nikola Mirotic put the Spaniards ahead.

Olympiacos fought back in the second quarter and Kostas Sloukas trimmed the gap to 43-35.

But this free throw by Ioannis Bourousis in the final quarter ensured Madrid held on to go 2-0 up in the playoffs. Olympiacos fans are nicknamed 'anchovies' and their hopes of making the next round are swimming away.