Real Madrid

Real Madrid remain undefeated at home and moved one step closer to the Euroleague Top 16 on Thursday with a monster 72-50 win against Lottomatica Roma. Sergio Llull led the Whites in scoring with 14 points as the team moved into a share of the lead in Group B after Olympiacos fell to Unicaja.

Sergio Rodriguez, Llull, Suarez, Reyes and Tomic were again on the floor for tip-off in what has become a frequent starting lineup for Ettore Messina. Rodriguez scored the team’s first four points of the game but Llull, Reyes and Suarez then contributed their share to put the Whites up 10-4. Despite their inability to get anything going, Lottomatica managed to stay in the game and only trailed by three, 14-11.

The first quarter drew to a close with a basket by Garbajosa, which was also the start of a 9-0 run including a spectacular shot by Mirotic. Crosariol brought the skid to an end, but Mirotic answered right back with a dunk over a defender.

Real Madrid fell back on its defense in the second with Fischer and Velickovic unflappable in the paint. The Whites grabbed their first double digit lead, 25-15, en route to a 30-22 advantage heading into halftime.

Lottomatica couldn’t stop the Madridista surge in the third and were unable to get any good looks at the basket on the opposite end of the floor. Real Madrid extended the lead to 21, 51-30, and the Italians managed to claw their way back to within 12, but Garbajosa dashed any hopes of a comeback by connecting from downtown.

In the final period of play Real Madrid did everything they had to to control the tempo and ensure the win. Pablo Prigioni had little trouble handling the ball and Mirotic got in on the action before the final buzzer sounded for the 72-50 win.