2021-22Regular SeasonRound 15
Real Madrid 87
ALBA Berlin 64
December 14, 2021 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 WIZINK CENTER

Tavares, Randolph lead Real past ALBA

Real Madrid remained undefeated at home by downing ALBA Berlin 87-64 in the Spanish capital on Tuesday. Real improved to 12-3 in the standings and 8-0 in front of its fans. ALBA dropped to 5-10. Walter Tavares led the winners with 17 points, Rudy Fernandez added 14 and Anthony Randolph had 13 for Real. Johannes Thiemann paced ALBA with 11 points and Louis Olinde added 10. Real led by 3 at the end of the first quarter before Sergio Llull and Fernandez led a 24-10 second quarter that made it 43-26 at halftime and Real cruised the rest of the way.

Tavares got Real going with a dunk but Tamir Blatt struck from downtown and Thiemann added a fastbreak layup for a 2-5 ALBA lead. Tavares insisted with a put-back layup and Nigel Williams-Goss hit a floater to restore a 6-5 Real lead. Marcus Eriksson answered from downtown and Maodo Lo bettered Williams-Goss's jumper with a triple that gave the guests an 8-11 edge. Real kept finding Tavares down low and got help from Jeffery Taylor to give Los Blancos a 14-11 edge. After Lo and Llull traded triples, Thiemann scored again, but Vincent Poirier made it 19-16 edge after 10 minutes.

Taylor took over with a backdoor layup early in the second quarter and Poirier hit a baseline jumper for a 23-16 lead. Ben Lammers buried back-to-back jumpers but Llull struck from beyond the arc and Fernandez hit two more from beyond the arc to make it a double-digit game, 32-20. Olinde joined the three-point shootout, but Adam Hanga scored in penetration and Tavares followed a three-point play with an alley-oop slam that broke the game open, 39-23. Oscar De Silva stepped up with a put-back layup, however, Juan Nuñez hit a rare no-look floater and Tavares scored again, breaking the game open, 43-26, at halftime.

Randolph buried a corner triple soon after the break. Thiemann dunked and Olinde struck from downtown to give ALBA hope at 46-31. Hanga and Fabien Causeur each scored around the basket but Blatt and Yovel Zoosman pushed the visitors to within 50-35. Randolph kept pacing the home side and Tavares soon help Real restore a 20-point lead. Lammers scored down low and Tim Schneider followed a step-back jumper with a three-pointer but Randolph kept Real comfortably ahead, 60-44. Lo took over with a driving layup that fixed the score at 60-46 after 30 minutes.

Thiemann scored in penetration early in the fourth quarter and Malte Delow bettered Fernandez's backdoor layup with a bomb from downtown. Fernandez answered from beyond the arc and so did Thiemann - accidentally while trying to pass the ball. Hanga took over with a high-flying tip-in for a 69-54 Real margin. After Tavares scored in the paint, Delow and Fernandez traded three-pointers. Blatt banked in a floater to make it 74-59 with over 3 minutes left. Hanga sank a triple that sealed the outcome, 77-59, as ALBA did not recover.

Coach Mateo back in the spotlight

Hours before Real Madrid welcomed ALBA Berlin on Tuesday night for a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid announced that head coach Pablo Laso and point guard Thomas Heurtel tested positive for COVID-19. That gave longtime assistant coach Chus Mateo the chance to be a head coach in the EuroLeague again, for the second time with Los Blancos. Mateo, 52, coached Unicaja Malaga in the EuroLeague for 22 games in the 2010-11 and the 2011-12 campaigns, registering a 6-16 record. He joined Real before the start of the 2014-15 season as one of the team's assistant coaches and led the team to a 72-63 victory against Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 33 last season. Coach Mateo improved to 2-0 with Real by downing ALBA 87-64.

Randolph returns after a year away

It had been almost one year since Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans had the chance to see power forward Anthony Randolph in the competition. Randolph, 32, is in his sixth season with Real Madrid. He suffered a severe injury in a road game against Olympiacos Piraeus on December 18, 2020. Almost a year later, Randolph had the opportunity to play in a EuroLeague game when he started his team's Round 14 game against ALBA Berlin. He finished the game with 13 points - 11 of them in the third quarter, 4 rebounds and a PIR of 11 in over 18 minutes, stepping up in Guerschon Yabusele's absence.

Real dominates in both paints

Great defense and a well-organized offense, looking for its opponents' weaknesses, allowed Real Madrid to grab an 87-64 home win over ALBA Berlin in Round 14. Real shot the ball well, making 23 of 37 attempts inside the arc (62.2%) and 10 of 23 from downtown (43.5%). No one did better than Walter Tavares, who made all of his 8 two-point shots. On the other hand, ALBA was limited to 11-of-36 two-point shooting (30.6%) and 11-of-28 from beyond the arc (39.3%). Additionally, Real outrebounded ALBA 41-28, using his size advantage with great effectiveness to get a home win.

Walters Tavares - Real Madrid - EB21
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: DIFALLAH, MEHDI; SHEMMESH, SEFFI; FOUFIS, IOANNIS
Attendance: 5010
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid19241727
ALBA Berlin16102018
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid19436087
ALBA Berlin16264664
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WILLIAMS-GOSS, NIGEL 23:22 9 4/6   1/2   3 3 5         3 3 14
1 CAUSEUR, FABIEN 18:24 3 1/2 0/2 1/2   3 3 2         2 1 3
2 NUNEZ, JUAN 6:21 5 1/1 1/1         1 1 1     2   4
3 RANDOLPH, ANTHONY 21:41 13 2/4 1/4 6/6 1 3 4 1   1 1   2 4 15
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 21:47 14 1/2 4/7     3 3 2         2 1 14
8 HANGA, ADAM 25:24 9 3/3 1/2   1   1 2   1 1   1 3 13
11 VUKCEVIC, TRISTAN 7:34   0/1 0/1     2 2         1 1 1 -1
17 POIRIER, VINCENT 15:49 4 1/4   2/2 3 6 9 1         1 2 12
22 TAVARES, WALTER 24:02 17 8/8   1/1 1 6 7 1 2 4 1   2 3 25
23 LLULL, SERGIO 16:38 6 0/3 2/5     4 4 4   3     2 1 4
30 NDIAYE, ELI 1:45 2 1/1           1             3
44 TAYLOR, JEFFERY 17:13 5 1/2 1/1     1 1 1   2     1   3
Team           2 2 4               4
Totals 200:00 87 23/37 10/23 11/13 8 33 41 21 3 12 3 1 19 19 113
        62.2% 43.5% 84.6%
Head coach: MATEO, CHUS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 LO, MAODO 21:53 8 1/3 2/4     2 2 3   1       2 10
1 DA SILVA, OSCAR 11:41 2 1/3 0/2   2   2     2     4   -6
3 SMITH, JALEEN 13:15   0/2 0/3     2 2 1         1 1 -2
6 DELOW, MALTE 12:49 6 0/2 2/2           1     1 3   1
8 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 19:15 4 0/3 1/2 1/2   2 2 3 1         2 7
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 9:19 2   0/2 2/2                 1 1  
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 13:35 6 1/1 1/6 1/2 1 2 3           2 2 3
19 OLINDE, LOUIS 19:56 10   3/3 1/2   3 3 1 1 1     3 1 11
32 THIEMANN, JOHANNES 23:50 11 3/8 1/1 2/2 3   3 3 2 1   1 3 3 12
45 BLATT, TAMIR 18:07 7 1/2 1/2 2/2       5 1 2     2 4 11
50 ZOOSMAN, YOVEL 16:17 2 1/5     1 1 2   2     1   1 2
55 LAMMERS, BEN 20:03 6 3/7 0/1   2 4 6   1 1 1     2 10
Team           1 2 3     2         1
Totals 200:00 64 11/36 11/28 9/12 10 18 28 16 9 10 1 3 19 19 60
        30.6% 39.3% 75%
Head coach: GONZALEZ, ISRAEL

Head Coaches

GONZALEZ, ISRAEL
ALBA Berlin

"I want to congratulate Real Madrid. They played a very good game. It was a special game for them without Laso. So I think they had a little extra motivation or were alerted. They deserved this win. We couldn't play on offense like we would like to because their defense was very good. They are very big and we had a lot of problems making two-point shots. We had to learn, improve and know when we have to attack, when we have to pass, when we have to dribble, especially against a good defense like tonight. On defense, I am not disappointed. Of course, there are things that we can do better but generally speaking, I am not disappointed with the team's energy in the circumstances that we are in right now. I think the team worked, but sometimes, against teams like Real Madrid, it is not enough."

 

MATEO, CHUS

Assistant Coach Real Madrid

"It was a very dangerous game. We were missing some important players. They did it, but they are loyal to a playing style which is difficult unless you understand it from the very beginning of the game. They are a team that plays fast and uses short possessions, sometimes shooting right away. And it is true that if you understand that playing style from the beginning, and I think we did, you have fewer problems. But even with that, due to their playing time and personality, which it's kept for some seasons already, when we had a 20-point lead, we were not quiet because we knew they could come back. It is a team that can score quickly and easily, with good three-point shooters, that rebounds well because there are a lot of long rebounds after three-point shots. Once we understood that, I think we played great defense, especially on half-court offense. We managed to limit them to 64 points, which is good, with 30% two-point shooting. I am particularly very happy because everyone contributed to play as a team, with a good collective effort but also good individual performances. Everybody understood what we wanted and offered good things, so I am very happy to keep WiZink Center undefeated in the EuroLeague."

Players

TAVARES, WALTER
Real Madrid
"I think it went perfectly because we know they are a dangerous team. They don't care about the score and are going to keep playing. And in the end, that was the most dangerous on their part, because they keep playing and playing, so I think we controlled us and that helped us win the game. I just keep being ready and keep giving every game its importance. In the end, that is the most important, to be ready to play, rest and come to play every night, so that is the most important."
RANDOLPH, ANTHONY
Real Madrid
"I still have a long way to go. It has been a long road to recovery, but thanks to my coaches, the teammates and everybody for supporting me and keeping the faith in me."
No results found.