By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The defending champions and last season’s finalist are already showing their might just in the second week of this season’s Euroleague having both a 2-0 start. Olympiacos and Real Madrid got what they wanted and also they did in style. The Greeks prevailed in Istanbul against Galatasaray (78-67) by ending the game with an impressive 14-2 run and transforming a close affair (66-65) to an easy win. Spanoulis scored 18 points, 14 of them in the first half and Mat “Mamba” Lojeski added 15 crucial points.
Real Madrid toyed with Brose Baskets and got a 40 points victory (98-58). Nothing can be said about this game, the Spanish powerhouse led by 11 points (18-7) by the end of first quarter and the negative surprise was that a usually solid team, like the German champions, couldn’t react, shooting just 31% in two pointers.
In Milan, EA7 Armani got its first win of the season by beating feisty Zalgiris Kaunas (82-75). The Lithuanians cut the lead of the Italians to two points (67-65) 6,5 minutes before the end, but with an 8-0 run the host team got a double digits lead and controlled the game in the closing minutes. Italian forward Nicolo Melli (20 p., 9 r.) was the man of the match.
Ιn Tel Aviv, Maccabi exploded against Crvena Zvezda, put the pedal to the medal and got the 96-82 win, also first for the season, by shooting 15/28 three pointers. In total seven players of the host team scored in double digits, while for the Serbs the duo of Marjanovic (20 p., 13 r.) and Jaka Blazic (17 p.) did the best they could.
In Krasnodar, Lokomotiv Kuban got to a 2-0 start in its Euroleague season and also got revenge from losing by Lietuvos Rytas in VTB United league. The 68-53 win with Derrick Brown (22 p.) and Richard Hendrix (17 p., 11 r.) leading the way was an accurate display of the quality difference between the two opponents.