Real Madrid

Real Madrid grabbed a big win against Valencia on Saturday in this third versus fourth place matchup to became the first team to win at La Fonteta this season. Felipe Reyes came off the bench to lead all scorers with 23 points and a performance index rating of 31.

The game got off to a back and forth start with both defenses holding their ground and preventing easy baskets. Valencia grabbed the first lead of the game and held onto it until Sergi Vidal knotted it up at 9-9. Tomic got into early foul trouble and was replaced by Lavrinovic, who guided the Madridistas to a one point lead at the end of one period of play, 15-14.

Real Madrid upped the tempo in the second quarter but weren’t able to break the deadlock. At least not until Felipe Reyes got in on the action. The Madridista international scored his 2,500th point in ACB play and reached 6,000 performance index points to prove yet again why he is the team captain. Rafa Martínez spurred Valencia onto a 10-1 run late in the quarter and the Whites found themselves down by seven, 35-28, as they headed into the locker room.

A 15-3 run to open the third period gave Real a five point lead, 43-38, and after several lead changes Messina’s men held a three-point cushion heading into the final ten minutes of action. Sergio Llull hit from downtown to extend the lead to 62-53 and the Whites never looked back. Felipe Reyes and Darjus Lavrinovic pushed the lead to a game high 19 points, 76-57 and Real Madrid held on for a comfortable 78-67 win.