2013-14Regular SeasonRound 6
November 22, 2013 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 PALACIO DE DEPORTES DE LA COMUNIDAD DE MADRID

Unbeaten Real Madrid dominates as it claims Top 16 spot

Unbeaten Real Madrid conducted another offensive clinic in defeating Zalgiris Kaunas 95-67 and claiming a spot in the Top 16. With a 6-0 record Madrid sits atop Group B, while Zalgiris dropped to 2-4 in a share of the fourth place. Madrid pulled away early, first led by Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez and Nikola Mirotic, before Sergio Rodriguez took over in the second quarter. Making several big runs, the hosts built 56-32 halftime margin and led big rest of the way. Mirotic finished with 17 points, Fernandez had 16, Rodriguez netted 15, while Llull added 10 in victory. Justin Dentmon paced the visitors with 16 points, Arturas Milaknis netted 14, and Martynas Pocius had 9 in defeat.

First quarter: Llull gives Madrid rhythm and lead

After a jumper from Ioannis Bourousis opened the scoring, Dentmon nailed a jumper and a triple to get the visitors going. Madrid’s offense, orchestrated by Llull, however, found its rhythm immediately. Mirotic made a jumper and Llull and Tremmell Darden nailed three-pointers for a 12-5 advantage, before a fastbreak dunk from Darden capped a 12-0 run. Coming out of a Zalgiris timeout, Dentmon and Fernandez traded threes, before Siim-Sander Vene hit a pull-up jump shot. But Mirotic added a layup for the hosts, before Darden’s blocked shot launched Llull for a fastbreak dunk and a 23-10 lead. Zalgiris countered with Sarunas Jasikevicius hitting a jumper, but Darden answered with a triple, and Mirotic ended the first quarter scoring with a dunk that made it 28-14.

Second quarter: Madrid dominates, pulls away

Madrid continued its dominance in the second quarter. Rodriguez opened it with a jumper, and after Javtokas made a layup-plus-foul, Rodriguez went on a little run of his own with a steal, a fastbreak layup, and a jumper to make it 34-17. Salah Mejri added a layup to the tally, before a reverse layup from Javtokas and triples from Milaknis and Dentmon cut it to 38-26. Dentmon was 3 of 3 behind the arc at that point, after going 6 of 6 last week. But Bourousis made a basket-plus-foul for the hosts, and after a Vytenis Lipkevicius layup, Dentmon missed from long range, snapping its run, only for Jaycee Carroll to nail one from downtown on the other end, 46-28. Dentmon responded with a layup, and a floater, almost single-handedly keeping Zalgiris with hope, however, Madrid finished the quarter with a 10-0 run. A triple from Fernandez, a put-back dunk from Bourousis, and eventually Rodriguez sinking one from long range, gave the hosts a 56-32 halftime lead.

Third quarter: Home team cruises

Marcus Slaughter began the third quarter with put-back, and Mirotic followed with a three-pointer. A layup from Rudy, and a fastbreak dunk from Mirotic extended it to 65-33. Back-to-back three-pointers from Pocius cut it to 67-39. Slaughter had a fastbreak dunk, and Mirotic added a layup for the hosts, meanwhile, Vytenis Cizauskas and Pocius scored layups, and Milaknis hit a three-pointer for 73-46. Llull and Jankunas followed by trading threes, and after another Slaughter bucket inside, Jankunas and Cizauskas made layups to make it 79-53 after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Margin reaches 35 points as Los Blancos roll

The tempo and scoring slowed down in the fourth quarter, as neither team scored points for almost three minutes before Milaknis hit a triple for Zalgiris. But Rodriguez answered with back-to-back shots from downtown, then Daniel Diez hit one as well as the margin reached 89-56. Carroll and Mejri extended it to the largest of the night, 93-58, before in the closing stages, Milaknis hit his fourth triple for the visitors, sparking a quick 0-7 run, and Lavrinovic rounded out the scoring with a fastbreak layup.

Sergio Rodriguez - Real Madrid - EB13
Friday, November 22, 2013
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; GKONTAS, SPIROS; JURAS, MARKO
Attendance: 11429 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid28282316
Zalgiris Kaunas14182114
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid28567995
Zalgiris Kaunas14325367
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 DRAPER, DONTAYE 14:23   0/1 0/1         3 1       2 1 1
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 25:22 16 2/4 2/4 6/6   3 3 7   1 1 1   4 25
11 DIEZ, DANIEL 11:33 3 0/2 1/1 0/2   3 3   2 1     2 1 2
12 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 23:52 17 5/6 1/1 4/5   2 2     2 1   2 3 17
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 19:44 15 3/3 3/6     1 1 5 3 6     2 2 15
20 CARROLL, JAYCEE 15:12 5 1/1 1/5     2 2 1 1 1       1 5
21 DARDEN, TREMMELL 16:59 8 1/2 2/3     3 3     1 2   1   9
23 LLULL, SERGIO 20:54 10 2/3 2/4     1 1 5         2 2 13
30 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 24:04 9 3/3 0/1 3/5 3 3 6 1   2 1   2 4 14
44 SLAUGHTER, MARCUS 11:49 6 3/4       1 1   3   1       10
50 MEJRI, SALAH 16:08 6 3/4       4 4       1   4   6
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 95 23/33 12/26 13/18 4 25 29 22 10 14 7 1 17 18 120
        69.7% 46.2% 72.2%
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 10:39 4 2/2 0/1     1 1     2     1 1 2
7 POCIUS, MARTYNAS 19:08 9 1/2 2/5 1/2   3 3 2   2     2 1 6
9 VENE, SIIM-SANDER 15:11 2 1/1 0/1     2 2     2     1    
10 LIPKEVICIUS, VYTENIS 20:05 4 1/2 0/1 2/2 1 1 2   1       2 3 6
12 KLIMAVICIUS, TADAS 9:01 2 1/3     1 1 2 1 1         2 6
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 21:07 5 1/5 1/3   2 6 8     3   1 3 1 1
15 JAVTOKAS, ROBERTAS 21:17 5 2/4   1/1   2 2     3 1 1 2 1 1
19 JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS 5:26 2 1/2 0/1     2 2 2   3     1    
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 25:49 14 1/2 4/7     1 1 3 2     1 2   13
22 KUPSAS, MINDAUGAS 9:42   0/1   0/2   2 2 1       1 1 2  
33 LAVRINOVIC, KSISTOF 18:53 4 2/5     1 2 3     2   2 1 2 1
55 DENTMON, JUSTIN 23:42 16 3/7 3/6 1/2   1 1 4 2 4   1 3 4 11
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 67 16/36 10/25 5/9 7 24 31 13 6 21 1 7 19 17 49
        44.4% 40% 55.6%
Head coach: STOMBERGAS, SAULIUS

Head Coaches

LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid
"We had a very good game, winning all the quarters. We definitely won the game in the third quarter. Zalgiris has good players, like Justin Dentmon, the Euroleague MVP last week, but we knew how to stop them. It is hard to say if we are at our best at the moment. Individually and collectively we can always improve because it is so difficult to talk about a perfect game. I am very happy to continue with Real Madrid until 2016."
STOMBERGAS, SAULIUS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"Congratulate to Real Madrid. They are always at a high level of basketball. They played perfectly today. They are very strong. At this moment, Real Madrid is the best team in Europe, I think. Against these players, with these good numbers, we could not stop them. With 21 turnovers, it is very difficult to be close to this team."

Players

FERNANDEZ, RUDY
Real Madrid
"We are playing at a high level. We must be happy but at the same time we have to put aside the euphoria. I am really enjoying playing with this team. We are playing a very nice basketball. We have fun and the crowd has fun too. We are ambitious and so are the fans. But there are high level teams this season, so we have to go step by step."
RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO
Real Madrid
"It is not always easy to play at this level. All of us want to play well, and I think that we are focused the whole game. We are playing a very cheerful and nice basketball. A Euroleague season is so long though, so these kinds of games are important. But ultimately, they are nothing if we fail in the future."
POCIUS, MARTYNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"For me, it’s good but at the same time it’s strange to come back here, to Palacio de los Deportes, the place where I played for two years. I felt very welcomed. Real Madrid is at another level, they are the best team in Euroleague. It is so complicated to beat Real Madrid. Our goal right now is to be in Top 16. We have to win the games that we can and hopefully be in the next stage."