By Eurohooops team / info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid registered its 10th consecutive win and 12th overall in EuroLeague this season by defeating Baskonia 77 – 55 on the road. The 55 points tie the fifth-lowest scoring output of the Basque side in EuroLeague this century.
Jordan Mickey had 15 points and eight rebounds for Real while Rudy Fernandez posted 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists. For Baskonia, Shavon Shields finished with 14 points and Tornike Shengelia with 10 points and five rebounds. With this loss, their team fell to 6-9.
“It is never my goal to be MVP of the game, I just want to go out there to do whatever I can to help my team win the game,” Mickey said after the game to EuroLeague TV. “Playing hard and just playing defense ends up getting you some good things at the end of the game. The goal is always to win championships, that’s what they brought me for, that’s what I want to focus on. That’s what I am here for, to help my team win.
Jaycee Carroll missed the game. The 36-year-old guard was excused by the Whites for a few days to attend to a personal matter.
Real led from start to finish and became the dominant power in the game after outscoring its opponents 16 – 30 in the second period. The hosts tried to come back but never managed to drop their deficit below double figures.
Baskonia ultimately finished with a EuroLeague all-time low four assists.
Before tipoff, Baskonia honored former team players Igor Rakocevic and Sergi Vidal.
? DIRECTO
?? El gran homenaje a @IgorRakocevic & @sergividal9 ??#GoazenBaskonia https://t.co/hwrg6Btm3x
— Saski Baskonia (@Baskonia) December 19, 2019
A performance (not) to remember
A season-low 55 points. An all-time low four assists. Baskonia head coach Velimir Perasovic had more reasons than one to be disappointed by what he saw on the floor by his team.
Quality-wise, I think it was one of the worst games we played – not just us, I don’t think Real played a great game,” Perasovic said. “Both teams did not play at a weak level. We lacked toughness and it cost us a lot to score. It was surely our worst game to this date on offense. It is impossible to compete against a team like Real when you finish the game with 4 assists. This piece of data speaks by itself. I think we had the fighting spirit but didn’t hit shots and that lead to frustration, which happened to us several times during the season. We wanted to do it, but couldn’t do it, especially on offense. We missed many three-point shots, many free throws and in moments in which we could have gotten closer, playing with intensity, we didn’t take advantage of their turnovers and in the end, Madrid deserved the victory.”
Photo: EuroLeague