By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
It was a quiet day in Madrid. Real did win Unicaja Malaga (79-64) with Nicola Mirotic scoring 14 points and Donte Draper hitting two key three pointers in the decisive 12-0 run of the fourth quarter (70-57). This result was enough for the team of Rudy Fernandez to start the season in Liga Endesa with an advantage.
Barcelona was shocked at home by Valladolid, which won 78-71 after a big game from Nenad Sinanovic. The center who was picked in the NBA draft back in 2003 by Portland scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Barcelona playing without Juan Carlos Navarro and Sarunas Jasikevicius started the season by losing a game at home against Valladolid for the first time since 1991.
One more Euroleague team, Caja Laboral, lost its opener at Zaragoza. The final score was 88-75 in favor of the home team, which had five players scoring in double digits. Andres Nocioni did his best for Caja with 20 points.
The other scores of the 1st gameday in Spanish league are the following: Joventut – Lagun Aro 89-73, Valencia – Fuenlabrada 93-65, Estudiantes – Canarias 101-86, Cajasol – Murcia 77-93, Gran Canaria – Bilbao 65-59, Blusens Monbus – Manresa 83-78.