By Stefan Djordjevic/ sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid took over control when it mattered the most and grabbed a 73-65 road win over Anadolu Efes in Round 17 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Real improved to 12-5 compared to Efes’ 8-9 record.
The game was tied at 63 with less than two minutes remaining but the Real Madrid squad, for who knows which time this season, stepped up in crunch time to steal the win.
Fabien Causeur made a tough contested layup and Jaycee Carroll followed him up with two shots from deep. In between, Efes wasted two opportunities to score, as Vasilije Micic and Bryant Dunston got called for offensive fouls.
Causeur finished with 15 points while Trey Thompkins had 13 and Nicolas Laprovittola ten points. For Efes, Micic was the only double-digit scorer with game-high 16 points.
Although Efes had an upper hand result-wise for a big part of the game, leading 20-13 after the first quarter and 37-31 at halftime, Real Madrid never went away. They had trouble stopping Efes without fouls and the Turkish squad went often to the free-throw line, however, Real stayed close and pushed the game to a close finish which went to their favor.
Coach Pablo Laso was happy with how his squad played and faced a difficult challenge: “It was a very tight game. We know how dangerous they are on pick and roll and creating for others, good shooters. We were able to stay focused during the whole game, using different lineups because we had a problem with Deck who had to leave the game, also Llull. We matched up well with four outside guys around Tavares, who was very dominant on our board. We moved the ball well and created open jumpers which is why we had a lot of threes because we played with that kind of mobility. Very happy for my team and the way my players responded to a difficult circumstance.”
He also commented on the upcoming arrival of the 32-year-old former EuroLeague champion in Alex Tyus.