Euroleague: Real Madrid remains undefeated

Jaycee Carroll not only dropped in 31, he also got on the floor after loose balls.

It took and extra five minutes of Euroleage play, but when the dust had settled at the end of the Real Madrid – CSKA Moscow contest in Madrid on Thursday, the only remaining club with an unblemished record was standing in front of nearly 13,000 friendlies on their home court. Thursday was a day of blowouts as three of the contests were decided by a difference of 19 or more.

Group E
Zalgiris Kaunas – Alba Berlin, 92:56
Zalgiris Kaunas took care of business with a 36-point win over Alba Berlin to improve their Top 16 record to 2-4. Alba drops to 1-5 and is quickly slipping out of reach of moving to the next round.

The first half was competitive with numerous lead changes early on. At the end of the first quarter the hosts held a five point advantage, 26:21. The closest Alba was able to get was four early in the second, but Zalgiris extended their lead to seven by the end of the half, 44:37.

The hosts took complete control in the third when Marko Popovic dropped in 12 points during a 14:0 run. By the end of the quarter they had a 24-point advantage. Zalgiris kept the pressure on through the final period, extending their lead to 36 by the time the final horn sounded.

Popovic was game-high for Zalgiris with 22 points, 5 assists and a PIR of 29. Tremmell Darden added 17 points and Mindaugas Kuzminskas added 14 points.

Yassin Idbihi paced Alba with 12 points and Derrick Byars added 10.

Real Madrid – CSKA Moscow, 86:78
In the first match-up between Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow since 2009, the hosts needed an extra five to pick up their sixth win and remain the only undefeated club in the Top 16. CSKA’s loss drops them to 4-2 and currently in third place, but depending on the results of Friday’s game they could move into a tie for second.

The two clubs battled to a 14:15 first quarter score that included a number of lead changes. Madrid was able to put some distance on their visitors in the second quarter, closing out the half with a 33:27 advantage.

Sasha Kaun swatted away three consecutive Madrid shots, while dropping in a deuce to go along with a triple by Milos Teodosic to cut the gap to one, 33:32. Rudy Fernandez tallied seven unanswered points of his own though, to put Real Madrid up eight. CSKA countered with 2:10 run to take the lead 43:44 to close out the third.

The clubs exchanged the lead during the fourth until the hosts got up five mid-way through the quarter. CSKA ran off five straight to pull even at 59 with just over two minutes left. Sonny Weems put the guests up by one with a minute left on the clock with a pair of singles and a dunk. Shortly after, Fernandez was fouled and put on the line with the opportunity to put the host back up by one, but he split the singles to knot the score at 66. In the last 30 seconds both teams missed two shots each to take the lead with Madrid getting the last at the buzzer, but coming up empty to send the contest into the extra session.

Fernandez opened the scoring in OT with a triple, followed by Teodosic bringing CSKA to within one with a jumper. For the next four minutes neither team could get away, until the last minute, when free throws decided the match. Kaun tied things up at 76, then Fernandez was fouled and split his singles. From there, Madrid was five of six, CSKA could only manage a pair of free throws and Jaycee Carroll sank a triple at the buzzer to give Madrid an eight-point win.

Carroll’s last second three-ball gave him a career-high 31 points. He also hauled in 5 rebounds and ended up with a PIR of 30 on the night. Fernandez scored 20 and had a career-high 13 rebounds, while earning a PIR of 34.

CSKA had six players in double figures, Teodosic and Zoran Erceg had 13, Vladimir Micov had 12, Nenad Krstic and Kaun added 11, and Weems dropped in 10.

Group E

This Week’s Matches

Standings

Pos			Team	Pld	W	L	Baskets	Diff	Pts
1	•		CSKA Moscow	14	11	3	1095:981	114	22
2	•		Real Madrid	14	10	4	1085:1021	64	20
3	•		Panathinaikos Athens	14	9	5	1001:968	33	18
4	•		Anadolu Efes Istanbul	14	9	5	1028:1031	-3	18
5	•		Unicaja Malaga	14	7	7	988:1015	-27	14
6	•		Zalgiris Kaunas	14	6	8	1065:1040	25	12
7	•		Alba Berlin	14	4	10	959:1036	-77	8
8	•		Brose Baskets Bamberg	14	0	14	1026:1155	-129	0

Next Week’s Matches

Group F
Besiktas JK – Maccabi Electra, 55:77
Maccabi Electra got their second win in Top 16 play with a 55:77 victory over winless Besiktas JK. The win puts Maccabi at 2-4, while the loss drops Besiktas to 0-6.

The game was basically over in the first half, behind an 0:18 run that started at the end of the first and ended during the early part of the second. Maccabi held a 12:21 advantage at the end of the first and was up 22:43 by the time the intermission rolled around. The clubs played fairly evenly in the second half, but Besiktas was never able to mount any challenge that Maccabi couldn’t counter.

Lior Eliyahu was game-high for Maccabi with 14 points, 5 assists and a PIR of 23. Nik Caner-Medley added 12 points and David Logan dropped in 10.

Serhat Cetin led Besiktas with 13 points, Patrick Christopher added 12, and Gasper Vidmar contributed 11.

Olympiacos – Fenerbahce Ulker, 82:71
Defending Euroleague champion Olympiacos used a 45:25 advantage over the second and third quarters to grab their third Top 16 win with an 82:71 victory over Fenerbahce Ulker. The win improves the Reds to 3-3, while Ulker puts themselves in a tough spot with a 1-5 mark and the half-way point of the round coming up.

The hosts were able to build a five-point lead in the first, but it was countered and erased by Fenerbahce quickly. They stayed close through the first 10 with the guests holding a one-point lead, 23:24, at the end. Olympiacos ran off eight unanswered early in the second to get some breathing room, then both clubs were hit with an ejection as the hosts’ Acie Law and Fenerbahce’s Romain Sato were sent to the showers after the two got heated as a result of some overly aggressive play working for position under the basket. Law left the court having already tallied 12 in just 13 minutes of play. At the half Olympiacos led 43:37. A late 15:2 run put the champs up by 19, 68:49, heading into the final 10.

The hosts extended the lead to 23 early, but Fenerbahce started cutting the gap slowly, eventually outscoring their hosts 14:22 during the final quarter, but it was too little, too late, and Olympiacos stayed in the thick of things in Group E with eight games remaining to be played in the round.

Vassilis Spanoulis scored 15 for the hosts, Georgios Printezis added 13, Law’s 12 in 13 minutes begs the question of how many he could have scored if he played the full contest.

Bojan Bogdanovic and Bo McCalebb were game-high for Fenerbahce with 20 each, and David Andersen added 18.

Barcelona Regal – Montepaschi, 85:66
Montepaschi led this contest only once, after the first basket of the day, otherwise it was all Barcelona as they handed their guests loss number one on the season. The result evens the two clubs in the standings at 5-1. If Caja Laboral wins on Friday there will be a three-way tie for the lead in the group.

After Montepaschi opened the scoring, Barcelona scored the next seven points on their way to a 20:13 first quarter advantage. They added 12 more to the margin with a 28:16 second quarter score to head into the dressing room up 48:29 at the half.

The second half was a 37:37 tie to give Barcelona their 15th Euroleague win in the 2012-13 season (9-1 in the regular season).

Ante Tomic lead the way with a game-high 20 for Regal. Xavier Rabaseda added 16, Nate Jawai dropped in 11, and Marcelinho Huertas added 10 to the win.

Bobby Brown led Montepaschi with 19, Daniel Hackett added 14, and Benjamin Eze contributed 12.

Group F

This Week’s Matches

Standings

Pos			Team	Pld	W	L	Baskets	Diff	Pts
1	•		FC Barcelona Regal	14	13	1	1151:986	165	26
2	•		Olympiacos Piraeus	14	9	5	1068:1033	35	18
3	•		Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv	14	8	6	1105:1012	93	16
4	•		Caja Laboral Vitoria	14	8	6	1093:1045	48	16
5	•		BC Khimki Moscow Region	14	7	7	1133:1051	82	14
6	•		Montepaschi Siena	14	7	7	1036:1057	-21	14
7	•		Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul	14	2	12	1055:1246	-191	4
8	•		Besiktas JK Istanbul	14	2	12	893:1104	-211	4

Next Week’s Matches