A fifth consecutive victory for Madrid in Istanbul

A hard-fought victory for Real Madrid. It was a very close game at Anadolu Efes, which was decided by a spectacular late surge from the Madrid side. Hezonja put in a great performance, contributing 22 points and a rating of 20. Scariolo's team secured their fifth consecutive victory and their eighth in the Euroleague.

Hezonja led a strong start. The Croatian scored the team's first ten points, six of them from the three-point line. A subsequent flurry by the home side took the game to the first timeout with the score at 14-10 (min. 5). As soon as he took to the court, Llull closed the gap with his 692nd three-pointer in the Euroleague. From there, Madrid managed to equalise and that parity remained until the end of the first quarter (17-17, min. 10).

Efes started the second period more accurately, dominating the rebound and led by a superb Smits, who scored 11 points. Real Madrid did not let the home side pull away on the scoreboard, but after two free throws and a dunk on the counterattack in the final moments, they went into the break with a slight advantage (41-37, min. 20).

Okeke and Hezonja on fire in the third quarter
Madrid quickly regained parity thanks to a stellar Okeke, who scored ten points after the restart. Campazzo continued the scoring streak with a three-pointer and Hezonja came up big again, scoring another ten points to put our team ahead at the end of the third quarter (59-60, min. 30). Everything would be decided in the remaining ten minutes.

A harmonious Madrid takes the game
The balance between the contenders remained at the start of the decisive period. However, some strong minutes in defence from Garuba and baskets from Lyles, Deck and Llull saw our team pull slightly ahead. A huge three-pointer from Campazzo, with a minute and a half to go, gave our team a decisive advantage. Real Madrid took the win in Istanbul (75-81, min. 40).

ANADOLU EFES-REAL MADRID STATISTICS