By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Guerschon Yabusele scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Facu Campazzo posted 15 points, 10 assists and six boards as Real Madrid crushed Anadolu Efes 103 – 80 on the road to begin the EuroLeague season with two straight wins.
Real was vastly superior for the majority of the game and had spectacular reactions each time Efes tried to disputed its dominance. The defending champions closed halftime up 41 – 55 after Efes erased a 17-point deficit and then established a steady advantage around 20 points in the third quarter.
“We did a great job on finding the right guy in plays. On defense, we respected them and that was the key, “Yabusele said. “Campazzo makes things easy for us. His scoring and passing skills are amazing. He’s a great leader for us.”
Efes was unable to hold back the Real storm and suffered its second straight defeat. Darius Thompson finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Rodrigue Beaubois scored 19 points, 12 in the first half to push the Turkish side towards tying the game at 31. It all went downwards for this team again though after that.
Fabien Causeur contributed 18 points to Real’s win and Mario Hezonja notched 14 points and eight rebounds.
“The stats are for you guys,” Campazzo commented when asked about his performance. “I don’t like stats. I put energy into making the right decision, the right call. Energy and defense.”
“To be honest, there were some moments in the first quarter when we came back with our aggressiveness,” Efes coach Erdem Can said. “And something similar happened in the third quarter and we couldn’t deal with missing open shots. And frustration is the biggest point for us. Defensively, we must play a lot better.”