2021-22Regular SeasonRound 19
January 25, 2022 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 WIZINK CENTER

Real routs UNICS at home

In a postponed game from Round 19, Real Madrid kept its great momentum going by beating UNICS Kazan 85-68 in the Spanish capital on Tuesday. Real improved to 17-3 to remains atop the standings and is on a six-game winning streak. UNICS dropped to 12-8. Walter Tavares led the winners with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Guerschon Yabusele added 13 points and Alberto Abalde and Sergio Llull each had 11 for Real. Tonye Jekiri and Lorenzo Brown led UNICS with 13 points apiece and Mario Hezonja and O.J. Mayo each scored 10 for the visitors. Lorenzo Brown and John Brown stepped up for UNICS early but Sergio Llull struck three times from downtown late in the first quarter for a 21-14 Real lead after 10 minutes. Rudy Fernandez, Tavares and Anthony Randolph helped Real break the game open, 47-31, at halftime. Little changed after the break and Los Blancos marched to victory.

Alberto Abalde got Real going with a three-pointer. Lorenzo Brown answered from downtown before John Brown followed a dunk with a fastbreak layup for a 5-7 UNICS lead. Lorenzo Brown sank his second triple and added a driving layup, but Nigel Williams-Goss brought the hosts within 10-12. Yabusele took over with a fastbreak basket that Mayo erased with a jumper coming off a screen. Llull swished a three-pointer, sank another one in transition off a steal from Yabusele and ended the first quarter with his trademark rainbow shot from beyond the arc, giving Real a 21-14 margin after 10 minutes.

Tavares took over with a three-point play early in the second quarter. Jekiri stepped up for UNICS and Hezonja sank a corner triple, but Fernandez did even better with a four-point play for a 28-19 cushion. Lorenzo Brown hit a floater, but Fernandez matched it with a driving layup and Vincent Poirier added a jump hook that caused UNICS to call timeout at 32-21. Hezonja followed a three-pointer with a reverse alley-oop slam and soon added a fast break slam to get within 35-28. Fernandez insisted from downtown and Abalde added a layup for a 41-29 Real lead. Tavares took over with a three-point play and Randolph struck from beyond the arc to fix the halftime score at 47-31.

Tavares scored around the basket soon after the break and Yabusele bettered Jekiri's jumper with a bomb from downtown for a 52-34 lead. Lorenzo Brown tried to change things with a coast-to-coast layup, but Yabusele insisted from beyond the arc and Abalde added a follow-up layup, causing the guests to stop the game at 57-36. Tavares dunked and a red-hot Yabusele followed his third triple with a put-back layup, giving Los Blancos a 64-38 margin. Andrey Vorontsevich and Isaiah Canaan stepped up for the visitors, but Tavares dunked again, Thomas Heurtel sank a three-pointer and Llull scored in transition for a 71-43 Real lead. Heurtel improved his team's margin to 74-45 after 30 minutes.

Poirier dunked to make it a 31-point game early in the fourth quarter. It effectively sealed the game's outcome, as UNICS kept struggling to organize its offense. Meanwhile, Real used a different lineup with Carlos Alocen at point guard and Randolph playing alongside Poirier. Jekiri followed a layup with a jumper and then Mayo hit back-to-back triples to bring UNICS a bit closer, 78-55. Trey Thompkins quickly answered with 5 quick points and Abalde also struck from beyond the arc for an 86-58 Real margin. Little changed in the final 3 minutes as Los Blancos cruised to victory.

Llull catches fire against UNICS

Real Madrid did not find much trouble to beat UNICS Kazan 85-68 in a postponed game from Round 19. Real dominated the game from the final minutes of the third quarter, in which Sergio Llull brought out his best version, that of a superstar able to make impossible shots regularly. O.J. Mayo made a jumper that gave UNICS its last lead, 12-14. Llull picked up a great pass from Guerschon Yabusele to make a three-pointer. Yabusele rolled on the floor to collect a steal and Llull got the ball in transition and stopped at the three-point line to hit another shot. He buried his third three-pointer in 103 seconds with a high-arching one over Tonye Jekiri to beat the first-quarter buzzer. All of a sudden, Real had a 21-14 margin and was well on its way to winning the game.

Tavares returns and dominates

It was his first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game in 2022 and Walter Tavares made sure his presence was noticed on the floor, leading Real Madrid to an 85-68 victory against UNICS Kazan. Tavares returned to action and dominated at both ends, showcasing his best version. He finished the game with 14 points on 5-of-8 two-point shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 on free throws. Tavares added 11 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the season and also had an assist, a steal, a block and 7 fouls drawn for a PIR of 28. As always, Tavares forced the opposing big men to change their game, trying to get him out of the paint, because he brought his A-game and that usually makes him unstoppable.

Real dominates the boards against UNICS

Real Madrid grabbed its 17th win in 20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season games by downing UNICS Kazan 85-68 at WiZink Center. Los Blancos dominated the boards, in what was the biggest key to this game. Real outrebounded UNICS 41-25, pulling down 12 offensive boards. Once again, UNICS was aggressive in the passing lanes, collecting 11 steals, but struggled in all other hustle stats, drawing just 12 fouls and grabbing just 4 offensive rebounds. The lack of second-chance opportunities prevented UNICS from competing for the win after the first quarter and Walter Tavares's solid performance (14 points, 11 rebounds) did the rest.

Walter Tavares - Real Madrid - EB21
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; PATERNICO, CARMELO; VYKLICKY, ROBERT
Attendance: 4792
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid21262711
UNICS Kazan14171423
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid21477485
UNICS Kazan14314568
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 27:21 5 1/1 1/3   1 3 4 2 2 1         10
3 RANDOLPH, ANTHONY 18:13 3 0/1 1/2   1 1 2           1   2
4 HEURTEL, THOMAS 13:23 6 1/2 1/2 1/1   2 2 4 1 4     1   6
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 10:53 9 1/1 2/6 1/1   3 3 4           1 13
6 ABALDE, ALBERTO 28:41 11 4/6 1/3   1 1 2 2 1       3   9
12 ALOCEN, CARLOS 10:37     0/3   1 3 4 1   2   1 2 1 -2
17 POIRIER, VINCENT 12:00 5 2/2   1/2 1 3 4 1         2 2 9
22 TAVARES, WALTER 22:07 14 5/8   4/4 2 9 11 1 1 3 1   1 7 28
23 LLULL, SERGIO 21:18 11 1/3 3/5     2 2 3   2       1 11
28 YABUSELE, GUERSCHON 21:47 13 2/4 3/4   3 2 5 2 1 2   2 2   12
33 THOMPKINS, TREY 5:53 5 1/5 1/2   1   1               1
44 TAYLOR, JEFFERY 7:47 3   1/1         1   1 1     2 6
Team           1   1     1          
Totals 200:00 85 18/33 14/31 7/8 12 29 41 21 6 16 2 3 12 14 105
        54.5% 45.2% 87.5%
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
UNICS Kazan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 SPISSU, MARCO 18:34 3 0/2 1/2     3 3 3 2 1     1 2 8
00 BROWN, JOHN 24:17 4 2/5     1 2 3 1 4 3     2 2 6
3 CANAAN, ISAIAH 16:47 6 2/4 0/3 2/2   1 1 1 1 1     4 2 1
4 BROWN, LORENZO 25:16 13 3/6 2/3 1/2 1 1 2 8 2 2   1 1 2 18
5 BRANTLEY, JARRELL 15:41 3 0/2 1/1           1 1         1
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 HEZONJA, MARIO 23:44 10 2/5 2/4     4 4 1   3 1 1 2   5
12 KLIMENKO, ARTEM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 UZINSKII, DMITRII 18:57 3   1/3     1 1 1         1   2
23 JEKIRI, TONYE 27:41 13 5/6   3/4   3 3 2     2   2 4 20
32 MAYO, O J 11:43 10 2/4 2/3     4 4 2 1 1     1   12
33 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 17:20 3 0/2 1/3                   1   -2
Team           2 2 4               4
Totals 200:00 68 16/36 10/22 6/8 4 21 25 19 11 12 3 2 15 12 75
        44.4% 45.5% 75%
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR

Head Coaches

LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid
"First of all, congratulations to the team for the win. I can say it now, but we were playing two games, one for the victory, and another for the tie-break advantage. We didn't think about the tie-break advantage and we didn't tell our players because it was not necessary. We had it in our head, but above all, our opening three quarters were really good, defensively and offensively. Many times, as a coach, you have a game plan and today, the team executed it really well. The feeling we had is that they are a very aggressive team on defense, which forces you to pick up turnovers and don't let you play easily. We were able to turn good offenses, sharing the ball, into solid defense, dominating the game rhythm. We dominated the boards and on offense, we shared the ball very well. I am happy for the victory, knowing that we are playing many games, and that forces us to move on and think about the next one, which will be against Monaco on Friday. In a competition like the EuroLeague, in which you always play against very good teams, the best teams in Europe, the fact that we are undefeated at home allows you to be in the upper part of the standings with good options. I really thank our fans for their support. We played very good games at home. Some others, not so good, but we were always able to somehow find the way to pull out the win against great teams. We have the feeling to play solid at home and the wins we got show it, but know that each game is different and what we say today may not apply in the future if we don't keep our focus and don't do the good things we did during the season."
PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
UNICS Kazan
"First of all, congratulations to Real Madrid. They were way better from the beginning, dominating us, so I have to congratulate them. I think their defense allowed them to take over. They played really tough, really good defense. It was hard for us to find our place on the court and after that, they also made a lot of shots, but everything started with their defense. A 10-0 run at the end of the first quarter and several moments in which they made a lot of shots, together with great defense, allowed them to break the game easily. We couldn't do anything against them tonight. After that 10-0 run, their bench's depth is huge. It is harder for us when we change our first players, but after that, our starters played bad, too, and couldn't play against Tavares, his intimidation. It is hard to play against a player like that. We tried to switch on screens, but he dominated the boards and changes a lot of things. Their three-point shots often come from advantages that a player like him generates."

Players

FERNANDEZ, RUDY
Real Madrid
"From the very beginning. we knew that this is a team that is doing things really well, playing really tough. We know that they are a physical team and I believe we were really focused on defense. We did well on defense and that was the key. After that, we moved the ball well on offense. They switched a lot, but we found good shots and above all, our big men, Edy, Vince, Yabu, Anthony, Trey.... That allowed us to find outside shots. Defense was the key, like I said before, and that allowed us to play our game on offense. We knew they are a team that gets a lot of fastbreak points off turnovers and we tried not to let that happen."
TAVARES, WALTER
Real Madrid
"This was a great game and I think we did a great job because they are a great team. They are super aggressive and steal a lot of balls. I think we read the game well and that gave us the team. We just have to keep fighting and try to be [in first place] because we know it is not easy. But we fight until the end."
YABUSELE, GUERSCHON
Real Madrid
"We just try to play aggressive, play tough and try to dive and play hard for every ball, just trying to keep going with our rhythm and try to protect our home court. We noticed that this is a team that always tries to play aggressive. We tried not to let them be aggressive in our home court. We tried to slow down the game, win the game and stick to our game plan."
SPISSU, MARCO
UNICS Kazan
"Difficult game, we knew from the begging, we didn’t play our basketball against one of the best teams in EuroLeague. We have to move the page of our book. Tomorrow is another day and we have to recover energy for the game against CSKA."
UZINSKII, DMITRII
UNICS Kazan
"This is the second tough away game for us. Of course, we understood that we were opposed by an extremely high-class opponent playing on its home floor. Real played well in attack, made their shots, but we did not always demonstrate aggressive defense, besides, our attack didn't work out either. We plan to analyze this game and start preparing for the upcoming home game with CSKA. We are counting on the warm support of our fans!"