Euroleague Top 16: Olympiacos and Real Madrid surge

Round 9 competition in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 is in the books. Real Madrid and Olympiacos S.F.P. Pireus, the respective leaders of Groups E and F, both came away with convincing victories. Both clubs are now 8-1 in the the second stage of the tournament and could qualify for Playoff berths as early as next week. Two of Europe’s top ballclubs are primed to go deep in the Playoffs, but which team can emerge as a dark horse and come up with a stunning upset? Can the defending champs, Maccabi Tel-Aviv shock us again? The answers to these questions and many more unravel as Euroleague action heats up more and more with each passing week.

Group E

Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul vs. Real Madrid, 71-107

This was the last remaining game for Group E to be resolved this week and the group leaders did not disappoint. Real Madrid cruised to an easy victory over the Turkish team. Real Madrid bombarded their hosts from downtown, splashing 18-of-28 from beyond the three-point arc. The biggest surge for Real Madrid came in the second quarter, when they unleashed their patented up-tempo offense. They buried Galatasaray in a barrage of bombs, outscoring them in the quarter 14-33. Galatasaray tried to chip away at the 23-point halftime lead in the third frame. They made marginal gains, but Real Madrid finished strong in the final period to enjoy the easy win.

Rudy Fernandez’ hot shooting (5-7 3pts) anchored his team’s assault from long range. He finished the night with 17 points, leading a balanced attack, pacing six other teammates in double-digit scoring. Galatasaray has been sliding as of late, both in regional and domestic competition. They are now in seventh place with their 2-7 in the Euroleague Top 16.

Group F

EA7 Emporio Armani Milano vs. Olympiacos S.F.P. Pireus, 74-83

Olympiacos took an early 10-point lead which they established in the first quarter and held on to it for most of the game. That was not to say that Armani did not put up a valiant effort. The red shirts had to overcome an impressive 24-point game by Armani’s Alessandro Gentile. He had the right idea of staying aggressive throughout the match. Gentile attacked the basket and was rewarded by being sent to the free-throw line quite often during the contest. Half of his points came from the charity stripe (12-14). Marshon Brooks tried to help Gentile out with his 17 points, but at the end of the day they were the only bright spots for the team. The rest of the white shirts could not get into any sort of groove and that spelled the difference in this encounter. Armani falls to seventh place in the group with their 2-7 slate.

Unlike their hosts, Olympiacos had several of its players step up and produce, once again displaying their strong teamplay. Credit does go to Vassilis Spanoulis who scored 14 points and made sure his team got in on the action with his eight assists. Othello Hunter added 14 points and six rebounds for the victors.

Unicaja Malaga vs. Anadolu Efes Istanbul, 93-90

This was one of the more interesting games of the round. Unicaja Malaga was paddling upstream prior to this match, managing just one win in eight contests in the Euroleague Top 16. Somehow the Spanish club woke up in this encounter and defended their homecourt successfully to come up with the upset over their Turkish guests. The loss puts Anadolu Efes at 4-5 and tied with Laboral Kutxa Vitoria in the group.

Unicaja Malaga dictated the pace of the game early and established control in the first half of the game. Anadolu Efes pushed back in the third frame, but it was not enough to fully nullify their host’s 12-point halftime lead. The home team simply kept pace with Anadolu in the final period to hold on for the three-point win. Ryan Toolson came up big for Unicaja Malaga in this contest with a game-high 25 points. Thomas Huertel led Anadolu Efes with 23 points and five assists.