By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid made a crucial 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter which was crucial in their 75-60 win over Crvena Zvezda mts.
This was Real’s first road win this season in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague as they’ve improved to 4-3 while Zvezda now holds a 2-5 record.
Sergio Llull led the victors with 16 points followed by Rudy Fernandez’s 12 and Walter Tavares’ 11 points. Tavares also grabbed nine rebounds.
For Zvezda, Billy Baron banked game-high 17 in addition to Lorenzo Brown’s 14 points.
Not a good game but a good battle
Coach Pablo Laso didn’t think his squad a high-quality game but he is proud that they didn’t stop fighting through it and came out victorious: “It was a good battle, I think. We didn’t play a very good game, but I think we were able to stay focused the whole time. They made big shots in the third quarter. they came back. We were playing better offense, but our defense cam down a little bit. But we were able to stay focused and I think we played a great final quarter”, he said before commenting the crucial run. “I think we moved the ball very well between Fabien [Causeur], Rudy [Fernandez] and Sergio [Llull] to get open jumpers. So probably our best quarter was the fourth one, but it was very important the way the rest of the team worked for the previous 30 minutes. We worked hard for 30 minutes, but we didn’t play good. And then we shined in the last quarter. It’s a matter of everyone being involved and they were. I think we found the right decision in the fourth quarter, we played better, we had open jumpers and we got a good victory.”
The game started off slow with a 12-9 lead for Real Madrid after the first quarter. Neither team could organize their offense cleanly which forced many contested buzzer shots from deep. But they weren’t falling (6-24 combined three-pointers in the first half), and the focus switched to the paint where the Spaniards had the advantage thanks to Tavares, Jordan Mickey and Usman Garuba. Real led 33-27 at halftime.
Zvezda got their three-point shot going after the break banking five of them compared to none by the guests and, led by Baron’s 9 points, grabbed a 52-49 lead in front of the final period. However, Real turned the tables kicking off the fourth quarter with four straight triples (61-52) and managed to hold off Zvezda until the end for the win.
Game Highlights
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague