By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Facu Campazzo dished out a career-high and a new club record 17 assists in less than 24 minutes to pace a powerful Real Madrid offense in the 111 – 99 win over Valencia.
Real Madrid shot 17/29 3-pointers to get a victory that extended its streak to 7 straight wins and improved its record to 9-3. Valencia suffered its second defeat in a row and dropped to 4-8.
Campazzo added eight points. Anthony Randolph scored a team-high 18 points on 4/5 triples while registering 28 PIR. Fabien Causeur contributed 16 points and Trey Thompkins 12 out of his season-high 14 points in the fourth quarter. The American forward also had six rebounds.
Jordan Lloyd (21 points, five assists), Mike Tobey (20 points) and Bojan Dubljevic (17 points, six rebounds) stood out from a Valencia squad that had its top offensive game this season in EuroLeague but failed to stop Real’s firepower.
Real led all the time after the mid of the second period and took a decisive 17 points lead, 87-70, by making a 10-0 run in the first minutes of the fourth period. It proved to be a more than safe advantage for the “Blancos”.
“We didn’t quite find the right rhythm on defense,” Valencia coach Jaume Ponsarnau said. “They hurt us a lot with three-pointers early in pick-and-roll situations with their point guards finding passes for their three-point shooters. We tried to change our defense to reach out to those shots and then they found dunks through their big men. In the end, we lacked strength and aggressiveness against their point guards to control the game better.
Creation made by Argentina
While Campazzo was registering a new personal and club historic best, his Argentinian national team teammate Nicola Laprovittola also did his part with five assists. Hence why Real Madrid coach Pablo Laso gave credit to his two playmakers for leading the offense.
“Facu [Campazzo] and Nico [Laprovittola] were very smart; they combined for 22 assists,” Laso said. “They were able to read the pick-and-roll situations really well, looking for open teammates, and they gave us a lot offensively. They generated good shots, and hitting them is what makes the assists number grow. In that sense, I think we moved the ball very well and the fact that Facu gave so many assists is really good. He was able to read their defense really well and knew how to find advantages.”