2014-15Top 16Round 7
Zalgiris Kaunas 71
Real Madrid 88
February 12, 2015 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Rudy leads Real Madrid to victory at Zalgiris

Real Madrid maintained at least a share of first place in Group E at the midway point in the Top 16 after a valuable 71-88 road win at Zalgiris Kaunas. Rudy Fernandez hit 3 third-quarter three-pointers to help Los Blanco pull away and improve to 6-1. The result dropped Zalgiris to 2-5. The Lithuanian champs led by 6 late in the second quarter before Madrid came back to tie it 47-47 at halftime. Madrid only allowed 24 second-half points – after Zalgiris had scored that many in just the second quarter – to claim the win. Rudy finished with 17 points, while Felipe Reyes added 16 and Andres Nocioni 15. Robertas Javtokas led Zalgiris with 12 points and Arturas Milaknis scored 11. In an on-court pre-game ceremony, Zalgiris assistant coach Sarunas Jasikevicius was honored as a Euroleague Legend.

First quarter: Reyes dominates to give Madrid narrow edge

The offenses shined early. Reyes fed Ayon for the first points before Paulius Jankunas got Zalgiris on the scoreboard. James Anderson drove for a layup in transition, but Rudy buried a jumper at the other end. Milaknis and Reyes traded threes. Jankunas put the hosts ahead 9-7, but Sergio Llull nailed an open three at the top of the key. Ayon was fouled away from the ball on the shot, which earned Los Blancos as extra possession. Reyes scored twice more inside to lead 9-14. Jankunas buried a three, but Rudy hit another jumper. Jankunas committed his third foul midway through the quarter and took a seat. Reyes reached 9 individual points as Madrid went up by 6. Zalgiris fought hard on the offensive glass, which resulted in an Arturas Gudaitis slam. Milaknis added another triple and then a long two-pointer to put Zalgiris up 19-18. Reyes hit free throws and finished a break with a slam. Darius Songaila and Ioannis Bourousis each scored in the paint before Lukas Lekavicius burst through the paint for a layup via basket interference to make it 23-24.

Second quarter: Zalgiris pulls ahead, but Madrid half strong

The big men traded buckets with Bourousis scoring twice and Songaila and Javtokas answering. Nocioni stepped out for a three-pointer and a 27-31 Madrid lead. Songaila scored the next 5 points to move in front. Jaycee Carroll connected on a four-point play, but Anderson wowed the crowd with a reverse layup. Will Cherry knocked down a three from the corner for a 37-35 lead. Jonas Maciulis’s put back drew Madrid within 1. Javtokas added free throws only to see Maciulis sink a three that evened the score at 40-40 midway through the quarter. Gudaitis starred with a layup on one end and a block on the other. After a handful of turnovers and missed shots at both ends, Siim-Sander Vene nailed a three. Reyes and Gudaitis each split free throws. Llull found Slaughter for an alley-oop slam and Rudy made a jumper before Slaughter came up with a steal and finished the half with a slam that tied the game at 47-47.

Third quarter: Rudy takes control for the visitors

Ayon scored inside for Madrid on the first play of the second half. Then K.C. Rivers nailed a three after which Zalgiris coach Krapikas called for a timeout. Lekavicius drilled a three from the corner, but Ayon came through with a tip-in. Jankunas scored 2 free throws, but Rudy hit from downtown. Milaknis answered with a triple, but Rudy matched him. Reyes hit a jumper from the elbow to make it 55-62. Javtokas rose high for a powerful two-handed slam. Rudy made his third three of the quarter and then took a steal in for a drawn foul, 2 foul shots and a 57-67 lead. Rivers drove to put Madrid up by 12. Edgaras Ulanovas converted a three-point play only to see Nocioni drain a three from the corner for a 60-72 difference.

Fourth quarter: Madrid defense puts the game away

Will Cherry attacked the basket for a three-point play, but Nocioni nailed a three from the same corner. Jankunas was called for an offensive foul. Nocioni scored another two baskets for a 63-79 Madrid lead. Cherry hit a triple, but the Zalgiris offense stalled. Nocioni scored from the baseline, but both teams had trouble generating points for several minutes. Javtokas’s hook shot ended a four-and-a-half-minute scoreless streak for the hosts, but it was too little, too late. Sergio Rodriguez scored twice to make it 68-86 with a minute to go and Madrid cashed in another important road win.

Thursday, February 12, 2015
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; NURAN, RUSTU; PASTUSIAK, PIOTR
Attendance: 12368
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas23241311
Real Madrid24232516
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas23476071
Real Madrid24477288
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 CHERRY, WILL 14:43 9 1/2 2/2 1/1   5 5 2         1 2 16
4 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 25:17 5 1/2 1/4   1 3 4 4   2     2 3 8
5 VENE, SIIM-SANDER 7:28 3 0/4 1/2   3   3   1     2 2   -2
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 19:22 5 2/8   1/2 5 1 6       1 2 2 1 2
8 KARINIAUSKAS, VAIDAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 SONGAILA, DARIUS 19:32 9 4/6   1/1   3 3 4   4     2 3 11
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 13:00 9 2/2 1/1 2/2   2 2 2   4     4 1 6
15 JAVTOKAS, ROBERTAS 20:38 12 4/8 0/1 4/6 4 2 6 1   1   1 2 4 12
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 32:00 11 1/2 3/8     2 2 2         1 2 10
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 33:22 5 2/2 0/6 1/2   4 4   1 3 1   3 3 1
33 DIMSA, TOMAS 2:16   0/1               1   1     -3
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 12:22 3 1/3 0/1 1/1 1   1 2         2 3 4
Team             5 5               5
Totals 200:00 71 18/40 8/25 11/15 14 27 41 17 2 15 2 6 21 22 70
        45% 32% 73.3%
Head coach: KRAPIKAS, GINTARAS
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
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 RIVERS, KC 22:50 5 1/2 1/3   1 1 2 1 1       3   3
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 27:49 17 3/4 3/4 2/2   2 2 3 2       1 3 24
6 NOCIONI, ANDRES 16:07 15 3/4 3/5     6 6           3 1 16
7 CAMPAZZO, FACUNDO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 MACIULIS, JONAS 12:42 5 1/3 1/3   1 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 4
9 REYES, FELIPE 18:09 16 5/11 1/1 3/4   2 2 1 1 1 1   2 4 15
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 18:41 4 2/6 0/1         6 1 1   1 1 2 5
14 AYON, GUSTAVO 13:49 6 3/4     1 2 3   2 1 1   3 2 9
20 CARROLL, JAYCEE 9:00 4 0/1 1/1 1/1       1           1 5
23 LLULL, SERGIO 28:58 3 0/3 1/5     3 3 9 1 1     2 3 9
30 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 10:41 6 3/3     1 2 3           1 1 9
44 SLAUGHTER, MARCUS 21:14 7 2/2   3/4 1 2 3 1 1 1 3   3 2 12
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 88 23/43 11/23 9/11 6 23 29 23 10 6 6 2 22 21 113
        53.5% 47.8% 81.8%
Head coach: LASO, PABLO

Head Coaches

KRAPIKAS, GINTARAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"First of all I want to congratulate my junior colleague Sarunas Jasikevicius, who was honored by the Euroleague tonight. He deserves it for his stellar career. We started the game really well and were very energetic in the first half. I think we played with heart for the most part of the game, but in the end Real Madrid showed their class and managed to beat us."
LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid
"Congratulations to the guys for the win. We saw two different halves today. Zalgiris played with a lot of heart in the first half, but due to the efforts of our bench, we managed to stay in the game. And in the second half we created great situations in our offense, we made our shots and played our game. It is very hard to play in Kaunas, so this win is very important. We are happy to win here as every Top 16 win is needed."

Players

SONGAILA, DARIUS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"We were very good in offense in the first two quarters. We knew that the defense would be the key in the second half, but we allowed them too much. Too many turnovers by us and too many easy baskets by them allowed Real Madrid to gain the lead. We created good shots in fourth quarter, but we weren’t able to convert them. We were in control when our shots were falling."
FERNANDEZ, RUDY
Real Madrid
"I think we broke the game in the fourth quarter. We tried to be aggressive in defense. They were scoring a lot in the first half. But finally we got this victory and we are very happy to beat Zalgiris in Kaunas. We planned and tried to be the best in defense and to play hard every minute. Our shot selection was much better in the second half and it together with great defense led us to the win."