BELGRADE, April 13 (Reuters) - Lokomotiv Krasnodar and Laboral Kutxa Vitoria nosed ahead of their more heralded rivals in the Euroleague playoffs after home wins in the opening games of their best-of-five quarter-final series on Wednesday.
Lokomotiv celebrated a memorable debut in the competition's knockout stage with a 66-61 defeat of twice former winners Barcelona, while Laboral romped to a 84-68 victory over Panathinaikos, who have six titles.
Roared on by a partisan home crowd in Russia, Lokomotiv trailed for much of the contest but swung a physical battle their way in the fourth quarter.
The home side outscored a misfiring and disjointed Barca 16-8 in the final period as power forward Anthony Randolph netted 17 points and playmaker Marcus Delaney added 11.