2013-14Top 16Round 7
February 21, 2014 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 PALACIO DE DEPORTES DE LA COMUNIDAD DE MADRID

Madrid breaks Top 16 index record in rout of Zalgiris

In yet another scoring exhibition, Real Madrid improved to 6-1 in Top 16 Group F by simply overwhelming Zalgiris Kaunas 108-72 in the Spanish capital on Friday. Madrid tied CSKA Moscow for first place in Group F, while Zalgiris dropped to 1-6. Rudy Fernandez paced the winners with 20 points. Sergio Llull added 15, Ioannis Bourousis 13, Sergio Rodriguez and Felipe Reyes each scored 12 and Nikola Mirotic contributed 11. Rodriguez and Llull each dished 9 assists. Madrid recorded a team performance index rating of 151, which established a new Top 16 record. The previous one belonged to Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, which amassed an index of 143 against Besiktas last season. Justin Dentmon led Zalgiris with 21 points. Robertas Javtokas added 15 for the guests, who trailed 21-18 late in the first quarter. A 13-0 run that Mirotic capped with a reverse layup broke the game open at 34-18. Madrid boosted its margin to 60-37 at halftime and then again to 92-50 after 30 minutes on a wild three-pointer by Llull, which allowed the hosts to cruis to another well-deserved, no-doubt-about-it home win.

First quarter: Madrid shines and builds double-digit edge

Bourousis got Madrid going with a layup, but Dentmon scored in transition and Paulius Jankunas hit a mid-range jumper for a 2-4 Zalgiris lead. Rudy and Javtokas traded layups and a three-point play by Llull put Madrid back ahead, 7-6. Back-to-back layups by Bourousis and Fernandez caused Zalgiris to call timeout at 11-6. Javtokas kept pacing Zalgiris with a layup that Mirotic bettered with a triple. Dentmon and Tremmell Darden traded jumpers and a hook shot by Javtokas kept Zalgiris within 16-12. Fernandez struck from downtown and Bourousis scored again, but three-pointers by Vytenis Lipkevicius and Dentmon brought Zalgiris closer, 21-18. Free throws by Llull and another three-pointer by Mirotic gave Madrid fresh air at 26-18. A dunk by Mejri and back-to-back fast break layups by Dani Diez broke the game open, 32-18. A reverse layup by Mirotic capped a 13-0 run, but a three-pointer by Javtokas fixed the score at 34-21 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Rodriguez excels and Los Blancos roll

Rodriguez fed Mejri for a backdoor layup and scored off a steal that made it a 17-point game. Arturas Milaknis found his first points and Sarunas Jasikevicius followed that with a three-pointer to bring Zalgiris within 38-26. Mejri took over with a huge block on Jankunas, but Jasikevicius capped a 0-8 Zalgiris run with another bomb from downtown. Rodriguez made 4 free throws and a jumper by Darden kept Madrid out of trouble, 44-29. Diez ignited the crowd with a three-pointer before Marty Pocius shined with a reverse layup, but Rodriguez sent a wild behind-the-leg pass to Felipe Reyes for a triple, good for a 49-31 Madrid edge. Mindaugas Kupsas made free throws and Javtokas added a reverse layup, but Reyes and Mejri kept the hosts way ahead, 52-35. Dentmon took over with a coast-to-coast layup, Rodriguez scored around the basket and back-to-back baskets by Llull gave Madrid a 21-point lead, 58-37. Free throws by Bourousis made it 60-37 at halftime.

Third quarter: Hosts put it away early

Fernandez buried a three-pointer soon after the break, as Zalgiris struggled to find a way to the basket. Reyes shined with a layup-plus-foul and soon added a fast break basket which made it 68-37. Javtokas dunked and Dentmon struck from downtown. Fernandez nailed another one from beyond the arc and followed that with an acrobatic layup that saw Zalgiris call timeout at 73-42. Javtokas took over with an alley-oop layup but an unstoppable Fernandez and Bourousis struck from downtown to boost Los Blancos' margin to 79-44. After Reyes hit free throws, Jankunas hit his trademark fallaway jumper and a layup by Dentmon got Zalgiris within 81-48. Fernandez, Bourousis and Reyes made free throws, as Madrid tried a taller lineup with Mirotic at small forward. Llull sank a stop-and-pop triple and bettered Javtokas's layup with a wild one from downtown, good for a 92-50 margin after 30 minutes.

Fourth quarter: Reserves highlight closing minutes

Mirotic hit a corner triple early in the fourth quarter. Kupsas and Rodriguez traded layups and a huge dunk by Marcus Slaughter gave Madrid a 99-52 margin. Vytenis Cizauskas and Milaknis shined with respective three-pointers. Milaknis insisted from downtown to cap a 0-9 run. Slaughter ignited the crowd with a wild alley-oop jam that brought Madrid to the 100-pointg mark, 101-61, midway through the quarter. The outcome was clear already and Madrid gave youngster Alberto Martin his first minutes in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. Cizauskas scored again, Arturas Gudaitis added free throws and a jumper by Dentmon brought Zalgiris closer. By the time Rodriguez made free throws, everything was said and done already. Zalgiris did not give up and fought until the final buzzer, but Madrid had plenty of time to celebrate another win in fun-to-watch fashion!

Players Real Madrid celebrates - EB13
Friday, February 21, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; BIRICIK, MURAT; FOUFIS, IOANNIS
Attendance: 11408 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid34263216
Zalgiris Kaunas21161322
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid346092108
Zalgiris Kaunas21375072
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 23:28 20 3/5 4/8 2/2   2 2 4   1     2 2 19
8 MARTIN, ALBERTO 4:00                         1   -1
9 REYES, FELIPE 16:28 12 3/5 0/1 6/7 2 4 6   1   1   2 5 19
11 DIEZ, DANIEL 16:22 7 2/2 1/2     1 1     1         6
12 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 23:11 11 1/1 3/5     4 4 2 2       1 2 18
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 21:56 12 3/7 0/1 6/6 1 2 3 9 1 2   1 1 4 20
21 DARDEN, TREMMELL 21:42 7 2/3 1/2                       5
23 LLULL, SERGIO 25:39 15 3/4 2/3 3/3   5 5 9 1     1 1 2 28
30 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 17:11 13 3/7 1/1 4/4   4 4 1   1     2 1 12
44 SLAUGHTER, MARCUS 10:32 4 2/3   0/2   2 2     1       2 4
50 MEJRI, SALAH 19:31 7 3/5   1/4 3 6 9   4   2 2 2 7 20
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 108 25/42 12/23 22/28 6 31 37 25 9 6 3 4 12 25 151
        59.5% 52.2% 78.6%
Head coach: LASO, PABLO
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
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 CIZAUSKAS, VYTENIS 11:05 5 1/1 1/1         3 1 1     5 1 4
5 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 6:39 2 1/2 0/2     1 1 1       1   1 1
7 POCIUS, MARTYNAS 12:42 2 1/2 0/3     2 2 1   1     2   -2
10 LIPKEVICIUS, VYTENIS 16:41 3 0/1 1/1   1   1 1 1 1     2 1 3
12 KLIMAVICIUS, TADAS 13:17   0/2 0/1   1 4 5       2   2 1 3
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 24:31 6 3/6 0/1     3 3 1   2   1 4 1  
15 JAVTOKAS, ROBERTAS 27:59 15 6/10 1/1   1 1 2 1 1 4 2   2 2 13
19 JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS 14:30 6 0/2 2/2         3   2   1   1 5
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 21:50 8 1/2 2/3     3 3 1         3 2 9
22 KUPSAS, MINDAUGAS 7:34 4 1/3   2/2                 1 1 2
23 DIMSA, TOMAS 14:17     0/1     2 2 3         1   3
55 DENTMON, JUSTIN 28:55 21 6/11 3/7     6 6 4 1 4     3 1 17
Team             3 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 72 20/42 10/23 2/2 3 25 28 19 4 16 4 3 25 12 60
        47.6% 43.5% 100%
Head coach: STOMBERGAS, SAULIUS

Head Coaches

LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid
"Congratulations to my players. We wanted to play at a high rhythm and managed to do it. I think that the biggest key was the way we started the third quarter, which allowed us to seal the outcome. I am happy with the effort of the whole team. I tried to use Nikola Mirotic at small forward to increase our backcourt rotation, but I don't know if I will use that option again. We still have a full round of games and need to accumulate 9-10 wins in order to reach the playoffs. Once we get there, we have to finish first or second to have the home-court advantage in the playoffs. All of my players did well tonight."
STOMBERGAS, SAULIUS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"Real Madrid played a great game tonight. We knew they would run and play fast, but even with that, we were not able to stop them. They punished us in the first half and we reached halftime trailing by 23. Madrid has a lot of good scorers, able to hit easy and tough shots. Madrid did what it wanted to do on the court; we had a game plan that we were not even able to put into practice. We have to think about this in the upcoming days."

Players

RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO
Real Madrid
"We were really focused despite not having two important players in Carroll and Draper. We managed to cover their absences very well. This is the right way and we have to carry on playing like that. It is just another game, we have to keep it going. I want to highlight how important players like Dani Diez and Salah Mejri are to this team."
MEJRI, SALAH
Real Madrid
"In general, Madrid is playing well since the beginning of the season. This game shows how well we have been playing for months. I played more than usual, but I have been working for months to be able to deliver in games like this. The work I did all season pays off on days like this. I think it was my best game with Madrid until now. I needed to adapt to new systems and to the Euroleague game. I know I have to give my best in every game, no matter if I play eight or 20 minutes."
POCIUS, MARTYNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"It is tough to talk about a game or express an opinion when you lose by 42. Real Madrid is a winning team and always plays at the highest level, with an effective, fun-to-watch style. Maybe we could have not won the game, but we could have done better than losing by 42 points."
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