Real Madrid had a strong start to the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season by downing defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul 82-69 in Round 1 in the Spanish capital in front of 4,000 Real fans at WiZink Center on Thursday. Guerschon Yabusele and Thomas Heurtel led the winners with 15 points apiece. Edy Tavares added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Real. Shane Larkin scored 21 for Efes and EuroLeague newcomer Filip Petrusev added 17 in defeat. Adam Hanga, Heurtel and Jeffery Taylor led Real to a 32-15 lead after 10 minutes. A three-pointer by Alberto Abalde made it a 21-point game soon after that. Larkin and Bryant Dunston brought Efes within 50-35 at halftime, but little changed after the break as Real boosted its margin to 68-48 at the end of the third quarter and never looked back.
Real downs Efes in season opener
Fabien Causeur got Real going with a finger-roll floater. Hanga and Yabusele each struck from downtown in a 12-0 opening run. Larkin stepped up with a driving basket and a three-pointer and got help from Krunoslav Simon to bring Efes within 16-8. Petrusev bettered Tavares's dunk with a three-point play, but Heurtel downed back-to-back triples for a 24-13 score. Taylor took over with a fast break layup and followed Vincent Poirier's alley-oop slam with a buzzer-beating tip-in that boosted Real's lead to 32-15 after 10 minutes. Sergio Llull, Nigel Williams-Goss and Abalde each struck from beyond the arc to break the game open, 41-20, early in the second quarter. Dunston scored twice down low, Rodrigue Beaubois and Yabusele traded from beyond the arc and Tavares dunked again to make it 46-27. Heurtel fed Tavares for an alley-oop slam and added a floater, but Larkin and Vasilije Micic drew Efes within 50-35 at halftime.
Hanga dunked off a steal soon after the break, but Larkin and Micic each scored around the basket and then Chris Singleton struck from downtown to give Efes hope at 55-42. Tavares dunked again and Williams-Goss hit a triple that gave Real plenty of fresh air. Real found a new go-to guy in Yabusele, but Petrusev brought the visitors within 65-48. Tavares restored a 68-48 Real lead after 30 minutes. Micic and Larkin each struck from beyond the arc early in the fourth quarter, causing the hosts to stop the game at 71-54. Llull buried a fallaway jumper and soon added a couple of baskets in transition to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer.