Madrid prove too strong for Maccabi

Real Madrid overcame Maccabi in the postponed EuroLeague round six match, which was played behind closed doors at the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall in Belgrade. The Whites cemented their lead with their tenth win on the trot, two ahead of Barça and three ahead of Virtus Bologna with the same number of games played. It was a stern test of Madrid's unbeaten run, which they dealt with authoritatively with a spectacular offensive display, racking up 99 points for the second consecutive game in this competition.  Tavares (19 points, 8 rebounds and 24 in PIR), Campazzo (11 and 9 assists) and Hezonja (10 of his 16 points in the third quarter), were the standout performers for a team that had six players in double digits in PIR.

The competition leaders were unaffected by the chill of playing without a home crowd and they came out of the blocks on fire. After a first few minutes of trading baskets, the Whites took complete control of the game. They set a furious pace in attack, which Maccabi, the third highest scoring team in the competition, could not keep up with. The visitors played the ball around freely, guided by an extraordinary Campazzo (8 points and 6 assists) and assisted by Abalde and Deck (another three assists each), to pick out Tavares. The center was unstoppable during the seven minutes he was on the court in the first quarter and scored freely in the paint with 15 points without a miss, 2 rebounds and 17 in PIR. Madrid distributed 11 assists and hit 16 of his 20 shots for 36 points and a 15-point lead (21-36, min. 10).

Madrid defend their lead
Maccabi managed to stay in the game through solid zonal defending that disrupted Madrid's offensive flow, led by strong offensive rebounding by Nebo and the attacking contributions of Lorenzo Brown and Colson. Despite the slow start, Chus Mateo's team never let their opponents get within ten points with Musa spearheading the attack and three-pointers from Sergio Rodríguez, Rudy and Llull (41-52, min. 20).

The rhythm of play between the two teams did not change after the interval. Madrid were the first to string together a series of good plays, with Hezonja and Tavares taking centre stage, to increase the lead to 17 points at 43-60 at the midway point of the third quarter. However, Maccabi have plenty of individual quality and that is where their response came from. They chained together three three-pointers in a row, with two from Baldwin IV, to make it 54-60 three minutes later. Then, Hezonja stepped up. He headed an emphatic response from the Whites with a 2-14 run, scoring 10 vital points to close the third quarter 18 up (56-74, min. 30).

Another offensive masterclass
The EuroLeague leaders did not allow Maccabi any more chances to get close. They dominated the rebounding, were solid at the back and rediscovered the offensive tempo of the first quarter. They scored from all positions, hitting six triples (for a total of 11) and distributing the ball seamlessly (29 assists). Sergio Rodríguez and Poirier delivered the move of the game with an unlikely assist from the point guard that was completed by the centre with a one-handed dunk. Hugo González made his European debut and notched his first points in a scintillating Madrid display that went close to 100 and won by 29 points (70-99, min. 40). With the first of four in a row now behind them, in less than 48 hours' time Madrid will face Fenerbahçe away from home (Thursday, 6.45pm, CET).
MACCABI-REAL MADRID STATISTICS