By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In the mid of the second quarter and with the score 33 – 30, Real Madrid saw Luka Doncic getting ejected after angrily reacting to some calls by the referees.
Despite losing not only their MVP but the most productive player n EuroLeague and also playing minus Rudy Fernandez, the “Blancos” beat their opponents 91 – 72 and grabbed their second win in a row and seventh overall in 13 games of the regular season.
With the 18-year-old star out of the game’s equation, other Real players emerged strong enough to deliver their top games in the season so far. Facu Campazzo had EuroLeague career-highs 14 points and 8 assists (making up for his 5 turnovers) for a 23 (also personal best in EuroLeague) in PIR while Walter Tavares had his best display since he arrived in the team, with 12 points and 17 PIR.
Captain Felipe Reyes finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds plus 4 assists in his 300th Euroleague match, providing a flair of much-needed creativity in Luka’s absence.
Bojan Dubljevic’s 18 points (4/8 3s), 5 steals and 3 assists plus the 13 points by Erick Green weren’t enough to counter make Valencia compete enough to make a challenging case for the victory, especially down the stretch falling to a 3 – 10 record following their ninth loss in a row.
The “Taronja” led 47 – 48 near the end of the third period but their opponents closed the quarter up 64 – 58. They remained persistent but with the score 69 – 64, Real had a 9-0 run to take a game-winning advantage.