Real Madrid sets assists record in blowout win

Real Madrid set a Euroleague record with 33 assists and Jaycee Carroll netted a career-high 32 points in a comfortable 112-83 home win over Nizhny Novgorod on Thursday night. The victory bumped Madrid’s record to 3-0 and gave it sole possession of first place in Group A. Madrid surpassed the previous competition record of 31 assists shared by Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv and Panathinaikos Athens. Carroll starred by scoring 25 points in the first half, during which he hit 6 of 7 from behind the arc, paving the way for Madrid’s 14th consecutive regular season win. It was also the most points scored by a team in a Euroleague game in nearly seven years, and the most Madrid has scored in a Euroleague game since 2002. Madrid took the lead for good with a 13-0 run in the first quarter, and pulled away in the second after Carroll hit 5 triples in as many attempts in the final six minutes of the half. Madrid opened a 17-point lead, and held a 58-46 advantage at halftime. After the break, a 12-0 run fueled by Andres Nocioni and Sergio Llull lifted the hosts to 78-57, and Madrid coasted to victory. Carroll finished the game with 7-for-9 shooting from three-point range, and a career-high performance index rating of 37. Rudy Fernandez tallied 14 points with 6 assists for Los Blancos, Felipe Reyes added 12 points, Sergio Llull contributed 10 points, 5 assists and 3 steals, while Sergio Rodriguez had 9 points and 9 assists. Taylor Rochestie finished with career-highs of 23 points and 8 assists for the visitors, and Trey Thompkins had 16 points plus a career-high 9 rebounds in defeat.

First quarter: Carroll ignites Madrid’s offense

After Thompkins opened the scoring, Carroll got it going with a triple. Semen Antonov scored a layup, but Carroll hit a mid-range jumper and drove for a layup to make it 7-4. Rochestie drove through the heart of the hosts' defense for an easy layup, but Carroll made a steal and scored his ninth point. A triple from Rochestie tied the score at 9-9, but fantastic passing on a fast break led to a Bourousis layup, and sparked a big run from Madrid. Llull and Fernandez nailed triples, before Fernandez added a pair of free throws and a jumper, capping a 13-0 run for a 22-9 cushion. Rochestie ended the visitors' drought with a driving layup, and Evgeny Baburin and Ilya Popov knocked down jumpers on back-to-back possessions to get within 22-15. Gustavo Ayon scored an easy basket inside, but Antonov buried a three-pointer with a hand in his face to cut the deficit to 6. A pair of foul shots from Llull made it 26-18 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Madrid pulls away as Carroll hits 5 triples

Artsiom Parakhouski made a couple of moves to get to the basket and lay it up, before Ayon scored inside for Madrid. Rochestie nailed a long jumper, and after Ayon drove to the hoop, Baburin hit a triple for the visitors, making it 32-26. Reyes scored from close range, and Rodriguez made a runner, keeping Madrid’s lead safe, but Rochestie’s driving layup kept Nizhny in range. A triple-plus-foul from Carroll made it 40-30, and was a preview of what would be in store soon. Rochestie dished it for Parakhouski, and Thompkins scored a tip-in to get as close as 40-34. After K.C. Rivers for Madrid and Ivan Viktorov for Nizhny scored from close range, it was time for Carroll’s show. Carroll first hit back-to-back triples, and after free throws from Reyes, nailed one on a fast break to make it 53-36. Rochestie was still hot on the other end, burying a three-pointer to snap a 13-2 run, before Salah Mejri and Thompkins traded close range baskets. But Carroll countered with his sixth shot from downtown in seven attempts, then forced a turnover on the defensive end to push Madrid to 58-41. In the final minute of the quarter, Thompkins hit a turnaround jumper for Nizhny, and Khvostov knocked down a triple to cut it to 58-46 at halftime.

Third quarter: Threes keep falling, margin keeps rising

At the early going of the third quarter, Facundo Campazzo and Fernandez hit from long range for Madrid, while Parakhouski scored twice from close range for the visitors to get to 64-52. Thompkins added a basket-plus-foul, but Andres Nocioni and Llull each hit another one from downtown for Madrid. Nocioni and Rodriguez took it to the hoop to make it 76-55, before Thompkins tip-in snapped a 12-0 run. Ayon added to the tally from inside, before Thompkins answered from the outside, 78-60. Mejri scored inside, and Fernandez made an alley-oop dunk, before Baburin hit a jumper, helping cut it to 82-63 at the end of the quarter.

Fourth quarter: Madrid breaks 110-point barrier

Carroll added another triple, before Popov hit a jumper for the visitors. Reyes and Maksim Krivosheev traded baskets from close range, before Reyes with a put-back and Rodriguez with a wide-open triple made it 92-67. Popov got a favorable bounce on a jumper, but Mejri’s dunk, and Marcus Slaughter’s alley-oop dunk got Madrid over the 100-point mark. Rochestie hit a triple, but Rodriguez made it 105-72 with a layup in transition. In the closing minutes, Mejri and Slaughter scored inside after assists from Rodriguez, Rivers and Campazzo, lifting the assists tally to the record-breaking 33. Dmitry Golovin nailed a three for Nizhny, and after a running-floater from Rodriguez pushed Madrid’s tally to 112 points, Viktorov rounded out the scoring with a jumper.