Euroleague: Madrid, CSKA, Tel Aviv, and Olympiacos win

The Euroleague Top 16 is in full swing now as Round 2 tipped off this week with four games on Thursday. It was a night of celebration for home fans as each team with home court advantage took the spoils in the four contests, and interestingly none looked unduly troubled in picking up those wins.

Current Euroleague title holders Maccabi Tel Aviv got its championship defence back on track after last week’s Round 1 loss at the hands of Panathinaikos. The Israeli powerhouse took out a dangerous Crvena Zvezda in Tel-Aviv to kick-start its Group E campaign. In the other game from the group, Real Madrid made it two from two, but the Spaniards looked far more comfortable seeing off Galatasaray this week than they had Crvena Zvezda in week one.

In Group F, Olympiacos welcomed EA7 Milan to Piraeus in Greece and went on to take apart the Italian visitors with a punishing display that could ignite the rest of the clubs’ season. CSKA Moscow’s dominant form continued in the other contest as the Russians remained the only team undefeated in this season’s Euroleague with a win over Laboral Kutxa Vitoria in the Russian capital.

Group E
Maccabi Tel Aviv claimed a maiden victory in this season’s Euroleague Top 16 by downing Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) Belgrade 78-67 at home. The Belgrade powerhouse was arguably the surprise of the Regular Season and remains unbeaten in the Adriatic League (16-0). However, despite playing well in its opening two games in the Top 16, Red Star is finding how tough the elite competition can be, it’s all about those fine margins.

Tel Aviv led by 10 points through the second quarter, but the visitors cut the deficit to 37-33 at the halftime mark. It was the tale of the tape as the hosts always stayed one step ahead through the second half to shut out the Belgrade contingent. Maccabi Tel Aviv was led by 16 points and 9 boards from Brian Randle, while the game saw a lot of action off the glass, with the hosts taking 42 rebounds and Belgrade 40… margins.

Real Madrid went two for two and took sole possession of first place for the time being with a 93-78 victory over Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul in Spain. Felipe Reyes paced Madrid with a double-double game of 22 points and 11 rebounds as Los Blancos edged a high scoring first quarter 25-24 before moving through the gears throughout the game to record a cruising win. The hosts dished up 27 scoring passes as the attacking plays from Madrid took their toll on a Galatasaray team that now sits on a 1-1 record after last week’s win over Zalgiris Kaunas in Turkey.

Group F

The performance of the night came from Olympiacos as the Piraeus club smashed EA7 Milan 81-58 at home. The 2013 and 2012 Euroleague champions will be desperate to win back the title they lost in 2014 and after moving methodically through the Regular Season, Olympiacos looks to be finding form at a key time of the season. The Greek’s moved to 2-0 in Group F on the back of four players registering in double figures through the buckets.

As for Milan, the Italians were comfortably beaten by Nizhny Novgorod last week too, and there is a feeling the club is out of its depth at this stage. There is still plenty of time to turn things around, but the players will have to regain the kind of dogged form that saw them reach the quarter finals last season. Milan took the lead early in the game and led 13-18 through ten minutes, but a series of streaks for Olympiacos (7-0 and a 9-0 in the second and 10-0 in the third) let the hosts take control of the game and dominate the hardwood.

In the other Group F game, CSKA Moscow continued to impress and have now won all twelve of their games in the Euroleague this season. This is certainly not an untouchable CSKA outfit, but they have only lost one game this season (in the VTB League) and look determined and dangerous. On Thursday the Russian club downed Laboral Kutxa Vitoria 99-90 in an exciting contest in Moscow. The hosts slayed the Spanish visitors, largely thanks once again to the explosive form of Sonny Weems, who nailed 22 points and pulled 8 off the glass in a big performance. Laboral Kutxa has now lost the opening two games of the Top 16, but the team is playing well and here five players scored double figures, while another two scored 9 points. The Vitoria club will hope to convert the good Basketball into wins in the coming weeks or the season could slip away.