By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dzanan Musa scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds as Real Madrid beat Rio Breogan 91 – 73 at home to remain at the top of the Spanish ACB League standings, tied with archrival Barcelona.
Musa, who shot 9-15 from the field, helped Real react following a EuroLeague loss at Olympiacos Piraeus. After their lowest-scoring performance and a horrid shooting night on the road, the Blancos were productive and finished the game with 11-23 on triples to ultimately win easier than what the final score shows.
Edy Tavares (15 points, seven rebounds) and Guerschon Yabusele (15 points0 contributed their piece for a Real team that took a 69 – 39 lead in what was a dominant (28 – 9) third quarter and cruised to victory. The only thing that Breogan managed to do down the stretch was cut the margin below 20.
Nemanja Nenadic (22 points, five assists) and Ethan Happ (21 points, 19 rebounds, six assists) were the only players who stood out from Breogan.
Valencia booked a ticket to the 2023 Copa del Rey tournament by beating Zaragoza 88 – 76 at home and climbing to the eighth place in the standings. Xabi Lopez-Arostegui had 14 points while Chris Jones and Jaime Pradilla scored 12 apiece for the Taronja.
The other seven teams that will compete for this year’s Spanish Cup title are (in standings order): Real Madrid, Barcelona, Lenovo Tenerife, Baskonia, Unicaja Malaga, Gran Canaria and host Joventut Badalona.
ACB 2022-23 Round 17 Results:
Carplus Fuenlabrada 72 – 88 UCAM Murcia
Lenovo Tenerife 88 – 64 Real Betis Baloncesto
BAXI Manresa 94 – 98 Unicaja Malaga
Barça 88 – 78 Surne Bilbao
Monbus Obradoiro 91 – 86 Cazoo Baskonia
Coviran Granada 78 – 92 Bàsquet Girona
Valencia Basket 88 – 76 Casademont Zaragoza
Real Madrid91 – 73 Río Breogán
Joventut Badalona 75 – 91Gran Canaria
Standings: Real Madrid 14-3, Barcelona 14-3, Tenerife 13-4, Baskonia 13-4…
Photo: ACB