Real Madrid overwhelms Maccabi to assume control of series

Real Madrid took a 2-0 lead in its Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs series with Maccabi Tel Aviv by collecting a 75-63 victory at the Community of Madrid Sports Palace in Game 2 on Friday. Sergio Llull nailed 6 three-pointers en route to scoring a career high 26 points to lead Madrid, while Jaycee Carroll added 3 triples for 14 points and Nikola Mirotic chipped in with 10 points in the win. David Logan came off the bench for 19 points for Maccabi, which will look to stay alive as it hosts Game 3 in Israel on Tuesday. Shawn James collected 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks while Ricky Hickman and Nik Caner-Medley both scored 10 points in the defeat. Madrid never trailed, racing out to a 16-6 start and never letting up. Maccabi managed to keep the deficit in a respectable range much of the night, but was never able to mount a threatening run.

First quarter: Red-hot Logan keeps Maccabi in the picture

Neither coach changed his starting lineup with Madrid boss Pablo Laso sending out Llull, Rudy Fernandez, Carlos Suarez, Mirotic and Mirza Begic, while Maccabi’s David Blatt went with Yogev Ohayon, Hickman, Devin Smith, Caner-Medley and James. Llull started the scoring with a driving layup and Mirotic followed for a 4-0 Madrid lead. Maccabi missed its first five shots and pulled within 4-3 on Caner-Medley’s triple to put the guests on the board. Lllull nailed a triple and the advantage was 9-3 after two Mirotic foul shots. Both teams were on high alert defensively with James coming up with a great block and then Fernandez rejected back-to-back shots by Smith. The second block landed at Logan who nailed a triple to cut the deficit to 9-6. Llull answered with a triple of his own and a fastbreak layup from Mirotic pushed the margin to double-digits 16-6. It was 18-8 after Mirotic hit a driving layup over James, though Logan responded with a triple and Slyven Landesberg finished the scoring in the quarter with a layup just before the buzzer as Madrid led 18-13 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Slaughter comes off bench to help Madrid pull away

Carroll started the quarter with a triple for Real but Logan nailed two straight three-pointers to get Maccabi within 21-19. Marcus Slaughter sandwiched a jumper and three-point play around a three-pointer from Felipe Reyes as Madrid regained its double-digit lead 29-19. Logan and Caner-Medley scored to twice make it an eight-point game before Llull’s next long ball made it an 11-point advantage 34-23. Maccabi fought back to within 34-28 thanks to a Lior Eliyahu basket and two Hickman free throws after an unsportsmanlike foul on Llull. But the final basket went to Madrid and was a highlight with Sergio Rodriguez finding Fernandez for an alley-oop dunk for a 36-28 Real lead at the break.

Third quarter: Madrid answers Maccabi run

Begic started the second half with a dunk and then both sides heated up from outside with four straight triples – Smith and Caner-Medley for Maccabi and Llull and Fernandez for Madrid, which still led by 10 points when Llull snapped the long-distance barrage with a driving layup for Real’s biggest lead 46-34. Two Smith free throws started a 0-6 Maccabi run with Hickman bringing the deficit to 46-40. Madrid once again found an answer though with Fernandez hitting two free throws to stop the run and Mirotic and Llull continuing their fine nights with another basket each and Carroll’s triple to make it 56-44. James cut it to 56-46 after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Llull caps career night with more big threes

James opened the fourth with a dunk but Madrid did not let Maccabi get back into the game with Carroll and Llull both scoring baskets to re-establish the 12-point gap. Hickman nailed a triple but Llull and Carroll went back-to-back from long range for a 66-51 margin. Carroll’s three-point play followed by Slaughter’s dunk extended the advantage to 71-53 with just more than three minutes left. A James three-point play and another basket had Maccabi within 71-60 with 1:43 remaining, but Llull put the nail in the coffin for good with his sixth three to make it 74-60.