Euroleague: Real Madrid puts up 40 on Brose
Real Madrid led a series of blowout contests to open Week 2 of the 2013-14 Euroleague campaign as they pounded Brose Baskets Bamberg 98:58. In the rest of the games played Thursday, the only close game was played in Italy as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan defeated Zalgiris Kaunas 82:75. After that, the margins went into double digits with Olympiacos taking a road win from Galatasaray, 67:78, Lokomotiv Kuban downing Lietuvos Rytas, 68:53, and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv getting their first win with a victory over Red Star, 96:82.
Group B
Real Madrid – Brose Baskets Bamberg, 98:58
It didn’t take long for Real Madrid to set the tone for their Week 2 contest against Brose, getting up 12:2 mid-way through the first 10 minutes. From there they didn’t look back on their way to a 40-point win that bumped them to 2-0 on the young season. With the loss Brose drops to 1-1.
After a cold start by both clubs that resulted in a lack of points for the first two minutes of the contest, Madrid struck first with free throws. Bamberg countered with a layup to tie the score for the only time of the contest. From there, the hosts pulled away, getting up by 10, 12:2, and eventually by 11-points, 18:7 at the end of the first quarter. Madrid continued to pull away as Brose found it difficult to get the ball to fall through the hole, shooting just 8 of 34 in the first half. The hosts’ lead peaked at 21 during the frame, which was where it sat as the clubs headed to the dressing rooms for the mid-game break, 42:21. In the third the margin increase quickly with Madrid dropping long-balls and getting baskets off steals to get up by 34 late in the quarter. As time ran out on the third 10 the locals had increased their lead to 34, 73:39. There was no letting up in the fourth and the Madrid margin grew to 45 on a 12:0 run. Bamberg did cut the gap to 36 before Madrid tallied the final four points of the contest to close things out at 98:58.
Sergio Llull paced Madrid with 16, Felipe Reyes added 13 points and 7 rebounds, Nikola Mirotic score 12 and added 8 rebounds, Jaycee Carroll tallied 11 points and 5 rebounds.
Brose got 11 from Jamar Smith and 10 from Casey Jacobsen.
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan – Zalgiris Kaunas, 82:75
Milan got their first notch in the win column with an 82:75 victory over currently winless Zalgiris Kaunas. Armani built a lead that peaked at 18 in the third quarter, but Zalgiris fought back and pulled to within a deuce in the fourth before the hosts were able to put the game on ice late. Milan will take their 1-1 record to Madrid to face group leader Real Madrid in Week 3, while Zalgiris will host Strasbourg.
The first frame was tight with neither team able to string anything together to pull away. They exchanged baskets for the bulk of the frame until the end when the hosts were able to get some breathing room with a six-point lead at the buzzer, 25:19. In the second frame Milan put a 14:2 run together and were able to get up by 18, 39:21, but the guests weren’t interested in watching their hosts continue to score at will and they mounted a bit of a comeback, cutting the deficit to 12 by the end of the half, 43:31. Zalgiris put together enough offense with defensive help to cut the gap to seven early on, but Armani extended the lead back to 11, 55:44. A 3:12 scoring drive by Zalgiris brought the Lithuanian squad to within three, 59:56. Milan opened up the lead to five, 63:58, at the end of frame. The guests pulled back to within a deuce, 67:65, but an eight point run by Milan opened the margin to double digits, 75:65. The advantage grew to 13, 82:69, and even with Zalgiris scoring the final six points, there wasn’t enough time to fully come back and Milan had earned their first win on the season.
Nicolo Melli was game-high with 20 for Armani. David Moss added 16 points, and Curtis Jerrells scored 14.
Zalgiris got 16 from both Martynas Pocius and Paulius Jankunas, 12 from Robertas Javtokas, and 10 from Sarunas Jasikevicius and Justin Dentmon.
Group C
Galatasaray Hospital – Olympiacos, 67:78
The two-time defending champions Olympiacos got their second win on the young season with an 11-point road win over Galatasaray. The win improves Olympiacos to 2-0, while Galatasaray falls to 1-1.
A 15-point run in the first gave Olympiacos the early lead, while the hosts had a rough time scoring, missing 11 consecutive shots at one point. At the end of the first 10 the guests were up 11:22 after 2013 Euroleague MVP Vassilis Spanoulis knocked down a three-ball as the buzzer sounded on the frame. For the first half of the second quarter Galatasaray was able to keep the gap the same, but the guests pulled away to extend the advantage to 16, 20:36. They exchanged baskets through the heart of the quarter, with the hosts pulling the lead back slightly, 30:42, as the teams headed for the mid-game intermission. The break got Galatasaray back on track as they pulled to within six early in the third. Olympiacos pushed the lead back to nine, but at the end of the frame the hosts not only closed the gap, they took the lead at 57:56, only to give it back up late to head into the final frame down two, 57:59. The champs used the long-ball to get some breathing room late in the fourth frame, extending their lead to seven, 65:72, with three minutes to play. The hosts never gave in, but couldn’t close the gap any further and in the end Olympiacos had their second win of the season and the hosts had fallen to 1-1.
Spanoulis was high man for Olympiacos with 18, Matthew Lojeski added 15 points and 5 rebounds, and Brent Petway scored 11.
Nat Jawai was game-high for Galatasaray with 22 points and 5 rebounds, while Carlos Arroyo and Erwin Dudley dropped in 10 each.
Group D
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar – Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, 68:53
Lokomotiv Kuban earned not only their second straight Euroleague win, but they also scored their first-ever Euroleague home victory with a 15-point win over Lietuvos Rytas. The win bumps Kuban to 2-0 and keeps them at the top of Group D, while Lietuvos falls to 1-1.
The hosts sprinted out of the gate, getting a double digit advantage, settling for a 19:10 lead after the first 10. Rytas closed the gap a bit, but a 10:4 scoring run extended the lead back to double digits for the hosts. The first half lead peaked at 13, but the clubs headed into the mid-game break with Lokomotiv Kuban up 12, 39:27. A 9:0 run through the heart of the third frame gave Kuban a 17-point advantage, 51:34. They exchanged baskets for the final minutes of the quarter with Rytas closing the gap slightly, sending the teams into the final 10 with Kuban up 14, 55:41. The locals tallied the first four to bump the lead to 18, but Lietuvos was able to quickly cut the lead to 14. They couldn’t get any closer though and Kuban closed out their second win on the season.
Derrick Brown was game-high for Kuban with 22 points, while Richard Hendrix tallied a 17P/11R double-double.
Andreas Glyniadakis and Martynas Gecevicius both scored 11 points for Lietuvos.
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv – Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade, 96:82
Electra got their first win of the 2013-14 Euroleague campaign and scored their 15th consecutive Euroleague home opener win with a sound 96:82 defeat over Red Star Belgrade. The win evens Maccabi at 1-1 on the season and is a big win for them after struggling to find wins. They also tied a team record of knocking down 15 triples in a contest, a feat they’ve accomplished twice before. Seven of the eight players that scored for Electra in the contest contributed points totaling in the double digits with Devin Smith leading the way with 17. Crvena Zvezda added five players in double figures as well to the high scoring contest.
Electra grabbed the lead early, getting up 11:6 and then extending to 21:12 before a pair of singles from Red Star’s Velibor Radovic cut the margin to seven, 21:14 to close out the first quarter. Mid-way through the second frame the guests put together a scoring run that cut the gap to five, but an 8:0 run to finish the half gave Maccabi an 11-point advantage, 43:32, as they started the intermission. Maccabi pushed their lead to 19, 53:34, before the guests found their range and were able to slice a few points off the deficit. A Tyrese Rice three-ball at the horn extended the Electra advantage to 17, 73:56, heading into the fourth. The lead grew to over 20, but Red Star put together a late run of 10 straight to mount a challenge, but the hosts held firm and didn’t let the margin drop below 10, ending with a 14-point victory, 96:82.
Smith led the mass of Electra players in double figures with 17, Joe Ingles added 16, Shawn James and Sofoklis Schortsanitis scored 13, David Blu added 11, and Yogev Ohayon and Ricky Hickman contributed 10 each.
Boban Marjanovic was game-high for Crvena Zvezda with a 20P/13R double-double. Jaka Blazic scored 17, Charles Jenkins added 11, and Ivan Radenovic and DeMarcus Nelson scored 10 each.