By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow put an impressive show against Real Madrid at home in Round 21 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and prevailed easily with 93-87 on Thursday.
Nearly perfect Sergio Rodriguez showed no mercy against his former teammates and put on a notable performance of 18 points and five assists and helped his team move up to a 17-4 record in the standings, while Madrid fell to 13-8.
Rodriguez, nicknamed “Chacho”, spend six seasons with Real Madrid before leaving during the summer of 2016 for the NBA and the Sixers. He returned to Europe for one of Madrid’s archrivals, CSKA Moscow, and was the key factor of the “Army Team” win.
Not only he put up good numbers, but with a couple of clutch shots kept CSKA in a safe distance during the third quarter, when the Spaniards made their comeback in the game after trailing 54-31 at halftime.
His heir, Luka Doncic, had 21 points and Real Madrid didn’t manage to catch up with the hosts’ pace in Pablo Laso’s 500th game with the Spanish club.
Adding to the Rodriguez’s work, Will Clyburn finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“Chacho” and Kurbanov (10 points) set the mood of a scoring party early on, as the “Army Team” totally destroyed their visitors from the get-go, with a compelling 33-11 lead in the first period.
Τhe spotlight belonged to another former Real Madrid player, Othello Hunter, with 11 points in the second period, who mercilessly fired against Los Blancos’ basket. The best that Madrid managed to do was cut the lead to 78-70 in the final minutes of the game, but they never got into striking distance.