Valencia Basket remained undefeated in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by downing Real Madrid 77-93 in the Spanish capital on Thursday.
Valencia thrashes Real on the road
Game Report
1 min read
Valencia Basket remained undefeated in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by downing Real Madrid 77-93 in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Valencia improved to 2-0 in the standings while Real dropped to 0-2. Bojan Dubljevic led the winners with 24 points, Mike Tobey added 14 and Nikola Kalinic scored 10 for Valencia. Walter Tavares paced Real with 15 point, Facu Campazzo netted 14 and Rudy Fernandez and Trey Thompkins each had 12 for the hosts, which led 19-17 after 10 minutes. Valencia took a 39-44 lead at halftime, extended it to 51-68 late in the third quarter and then again to 55-80 soon after that, more than enough to seal the outcome.
Alberto Abalde got Real going with a three-pointer, but Derrick Williams and Kalinic soon put Valencia ahead, 3-4. Tavares dunked and Gabriel Deck added a fastbreak layup for a 7-4 Real lead. Dubljevic struck twice from downtown and Guillem Vives scored in penetration to tie it at 12-12. Abalde stepped up with a put-back layup and Campazzo scored in penetration for a 16-12 Real lead. Campazzo hit his second three-pointer, but Kalinic and Louis Labeyrie kept Valencia within 19-17 after 10 minutes. Martin Hermannsson took over with a driving layup early in the second quarter. Fernandez and Tavares combined for all the points in a 6-0 run, but Labeyrie hit a triple to make it 25-22. Tavares dunked again and Anthony Randolph found his first points. Sam Van Rossom took over with a wild three-point play and Tobey followed a layup with an alley-oop dunk in a 3-15 run in which Labeyrie and Dubljevic each struck from beyond the arc to put Valencia in charge, 32-37, after a 3-15 run. Kalinic surprised Real's defense with a backdoor layup and Dubljevic nailed another triple for a 34-42 Valencia edge. Sergio Llull scored from way downtown and Campazzo kept Real within 39-44 at halftime.
Dubljevic fired in his fifth and sixth triple immediately after the break to make it a double-digit game, 41-52. Prepelic bettered Garuba's layup with a three-point play, but Fabien Causeur and Campazzo brought the hosts within 47-55. Kalinic scored in the low post and Vives added a driving layup, which prompted a Real timeout at 47-59. Dubljevic kept pacing the guests and Williams added a coast-to-coast bucket and a three-pointer that broke the game open, 51-68. Llull brought his team within 53-68 after 30 minutes. Hermannsson stepped up with a three-point play early in the fourth quarter. Tobey scored down low and Fernando San Emeterio added a jumper and a three-pointer for a 55-78 Valencia lead with 7 minutes left. Real never gave up but Valencia had cruised to an outstanding road win.
Game Leaders
Pivotal performer
Dubljevic was the star of the game, taking advantage of pick-and-pop situations to get open shots from beyond the arc. He finished the game with 24 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting and 4-of-4 on free throws. He posted a performance index rating of 23 in less than 19 minutes on the court.
Game-changing moment
Valencia led 39-44 at halftime and a Real reaction was expected after the break. Dubljevic had other ideas, however, as he immediately buried a couple of three-pointers. Prepelic added 5 quick points and the whole Real defense collapsed. Valencia ended up scoring 24 points in the third quarter for a 51-68 lead that allowed it to control the game until the end.
Stellar stat
Valencia took much better care of the ball, finishing the game with 21 assists and just 11 turnovers. On the other hand, Real had 17 assists and 15 turnovers. Valencia also shot the ball slightly better from downtown, making 11 of 23 three-point shots (47.8%) and limiting Real to 10-of-29 shooting (34.5%).
Did you know?
It is Real's worst home loss in more than eight years. Montepaschi Siena defeated Real 69-88 in the Spanish capital on January 25, 2012. Its largest home loss in the EuroLeague - and all European competitions - came against Kinder Bologna, 58-86, on March 20, 2002.