By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
For more than 31 minutes in the first Liga Endesa game of the season, Real Madrid was struggling against a quite effective Unicaja Malaga, yet with a an almost dreamlike fourth quarter performance, the “Whites” downed their opponents 101 – 90.
With nine minutes to go, the Andalusians were leading 78 – 73 and looked ready to deliver the blow of an upset to their hosts. Yet Real Madrid saved the best for last.
Coach Laso’s players took the lead (82 – 78) with a sequence of 3-pointers and then became extra attentive on their defensive duties, increasing their scoring opportunities on the other side of floor, be it in transition or set game situations.
They, more or less, completed the job when a 12-0 run made it 94 – 82 it was all over, despite some futile attempts of Unicaja to avert the upcoming result.
Sergio Llull (14 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds) and Jaycee Carroll (14 points) were among the protagonists of the Madridistas’ victory along with Othello Hunter (12 points and some big defensive presence) and Gustavo Ayon (16 points, 8 rebounds).
17-year old Luka Doncic (6 points, 4 assists) also provided immense helps on both ends of court during his team’s game-winning efforts of the last quarter.
With 14 points, Dejan Musli had a pretty solid match for Unicaja Nemanja Nedovic scored 13 and dished 5 assists while Carlos Suarez and Jeff Brooks dropped 12 apiece.