By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Sarunas Jasikevicius (photo) and Juan Carlos Navarro made their first appearance in Liga Endesa for this season, but they could not alter Barcelona’s fate. Bilbao got the win against the Spanish champions by a point (78-77) and the team of coach Xavi Pascual just before its exhibition game against Dallas Mavericks this Tuesday and the tip off of Euroleague season has a rare 0-2 record in its domestic league.
The opposite applies to Caja Laboral which beat at home Cajasol by 20 points (90-70) and got its first win for the season. Six players scored in double figures, French guard Fabien Causer had 12 points in his Spanish league debut and coach Ivanovic’s team found a way to be effective without injured big men Milko Bjelica and Tibor Pleiss.
Real Madrid beat Valladolid (100-75) before its travel to the States and it remains on top of the standings with a 2-0 record together with Zaragoza, Valencia, Gran Canaria, Estudiantes and Blusens. The rest of 2nd gameday’s results in Spain are the following: Canarias – Zaragoza 65-85, Unicaja – Joventut 73-71, Fuenlabrada – Blusens 71-79, Manresa – Gran Canaria 64-80, Murcia – Valencia 77-78, Lagun Aro – Estundiantes 71-83.