Madrid still unbeaten despite Galatasaray scare

Real Madrid held off a fourth quarter charge from a depleted Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul to remain the only undefeated team in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague with an 89-84 win on Friday night in the Spanish capital. Madrid improved to 2-0 in Top 16 Group F alongside three other teams, while Galatasaray dropped to 0-2. Madrid pulled away in the second quarter behind Sergio Rodriguez for a 45-33 halftime lead. Rodriguez beat the buzzer at the end of the third with an off-the-glass triple for the biggest lead of the night, 66-52. But Galatasaray rallied in the fourth, hitting 7 triples. In the end, Tremmell Darden, Nikola Mirotic and Rodriguez made sure Madrid stayed unbeaten. Jaycee Carroll led six Madrid scorers in double figures with 15 points. Marcus Slaughter added 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Rodriguez and Felipe Reyes also scored 14 apiece. Darden finished with 13 points plus 10 rebounds, and Sergio Llull had 10 for Real Madrid. Zoran Erceg collected 24 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Cenk Akyol scored 16, Carlos Arroyo had 12 points and 10 assists and Milan Macvan collected 12 points plus 11 rebounds in defeat.

First quarter: Galatasaray’s triples keep it close

Ioannis Bourousis opened the scoring from close range, and Macvan scored a layup on the other end. The hosts went in front 7-2 with a pull up jumper from Llull and a triple from Mirotic. After Macvan scored on a fastbreak thanks to Arroyo's assist, Darden sank one from long range and Reyes scored from close range, 12-4. Malik Hairston answered with a fastbreak dunk, and Henry Domercant hit a triple to make it 14-9. Another beautiful pass from Arroyo for a Macvan layup cut it to 15-11, but Llull nailed a three-pointer and Darden dunked on a fastbreak for a 20-11 advantage. However, Erceg answered with back-to-back triples and Arroyo made a last second layup for 20-19 score at the end of the first.

Second quarter: Los Blancos pull away

Domercant’s triple opened the second quarter, giving Galatasaray its first lead, 20-22, but Carroll immediately replied from downtown. Hairston scored a driving layup, but Madrid turned it around in the blink of an eye. Slaughter scored a put-back dunk and Carroll added another triple, before Rodriguez dished an over-the-head pass to Reyes for a 30-24 margin. Macvan made another easy layup for the visitors, but Rodriguez hit a jumper with his toes on the three-point line, then followed it with a triple. In the final six minutes of the half, Galatasaray scored only 6 free throws, meanwhile Rodriguez and Darden hit jumper for the hosts, and a pair of free throws each from Llull and Reyes gave Madrid a 45-33 halftime lead.

Third quarter: Galatasaray’s strong start, Madrid’s strong finish

Arroyo nailed a triple, before Erceg made a baseline jumper and hit a three-pointer to get within 45-41. Rudy Fernandez scored his lone basket of the night, but Erceg’s fourth triple cut it to 47-44. However, Slaughter came up with an acrobatic reverse layup and Llull hit a jump shot, keeping Madrid’s lead safe. Dontaye Draper dished a behind-the-back assist for Reyes, and Slaughter had a big dunk to make it 55-44. Hairston snapped an 8-0 run with a driving layup, but Slaughter’s pair of tip-ins extended it to 59-46. Erceg also had a tip-in, but Reyes continued Madrid’s dominance with a put-back and Slaughter followed it with an alley-oop dunk from Rodriguez. Erceg scored inside, but Rodriguez banked a three-pointer as time expired to make it 66-52.

Fourth quarter: Carroll and Darden hold off the visitors’ charge

It was a shootout at the start of the fourth. Erceg started it with another basket inside, before Carroll and Arroyo traded jumpers. Erceg finished a fastbreak with a reverse layup, and after Carroll’s long jumper, the teams went back and forth: Arroyo nailed a triple, Carroll responded with a floater, and Akyol sank a three-pointer to make it 75-68. After another floater from Carroll, Akyol’s triple cut it to 77-71 with little over five minutes to go. Darden drove the baseline for a lay-in-plus-foul, but Akyol hit for two, and Arslan for three from the right corner, 80-76. After a Coach Pablo Laso timeout, Darden’s three-pointer gave Madrid breathing room, and the hosts came up with couple of defensive stops. Mirotic scored a layup that made it 85-76, but it did not take the wind out of Galatasaray’s sails. Akyol hit back-to-back triples, with Rodriguez sinking a jumper in between, 87-82. In the final minute, Slaughter scored inside, and despite Arroyo’s tough jumper, the hosts had the game sealed.