By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
A night that should belonged to basketball, was overshadowed by an unprecedented incident. After the game of Zalgiris Kaunas vs Real Madrid a fan of the home team, according to a report by Lithuanian journalist Sarunas Mazalas, punched Rudy Fernandez (photo) in the face as he was heading to his team bus due to his behaviour in the first game between the two teams. He was then rushed to the airport with blood all over his face. The offender and his brother were arrested and here’s what happened on the court.
- In Piraeus, Barcelona saved the best for last and with a partial score of 27-15 in the last quarter prevailed over defending champions Olympiacos (90-77). Erazem Lorbek with 21 points and Pete Mickeal with 20 points were the top scorers of the winners, Ferbuary MVP Ante Tomic was impressive in the first half, while Olympiacos managed to tie the score in the last minute of the third quarter (62-62), but couldn’t finish the game with the same efficiency on both ends of the floor.
- In Kaunas, Zalgiris fought until the bitter end but it was the night of Nicola Mirotic who had 31 points with 18/18 FT (tied the Euroleague record) and 11 rebounds. He was the main reason of Real Madrid’s overtime win by a point (105-104) The Lithuanians had the chance to win the game in the end of the regulation (84-84) as they had 3 seconds for a final shot, Marko Popovic took the responsibility, but missed it.
- Ιn Istanbul the team that really needed the win, got it. Maccabi Tel Aviv prevailed over Fenerbahce/ Ulker (94-85) after getting a 9 point difference in the second quarter which lasted until the end. Five players from the winners scored in double digits, while the hosts for one more game didn’t exhibit any kind of desire in defense. On the contrary Bodganovic had one more big offensive game with 26 points.