Real Madrid landed an authoritative blow in the Euroleague with an indisputable victory on the leader's home soil, where no team had managed to achieve this to date. Our team played a great game against Fenerbahçe, beating the Turkish side by 23 points with a fantastic team performance. Sixth win a row in the competition to uphold their winning streak. Tavares (17 points, 3 blocks and 26 index rating) guided three other players in double figures in efficiency: Musa (18 and 22), Deck (12, 8 rebounds and 17index rating) and Hezonja (9, 7 and 12). The latter would be key in the final stretch.
The Ulker Sports and Event Hall witnessed Madrid putting on a spectacular display in a first quarter bordering on perfection. Their excessive fouls being the only downside. They defended aggressively, blocking Calathes, and with an intimidating Tavares near the hoop pulling off 3 blocks. They combined this with a very fluid offence, good shot selection and very stable scoring. Deck, who led the team at the start with 10 points and 3 rebounds, was firmly in charge. The score was 25-16 for our team after reaching a 14-point lead in the ninth minute.
A solid Madrid
The home side, who had been carried at the start by Booker and Motley, increased their level of pressure and toughness to try to stop Madrid's sweet moment. They managed to slow down the pace and took advantage of the offensive rebounds and alternative options to score more regularly (30-36, 17th minute). Madrid reacted strongly to the Fenerbahçe onslaught. Calling on their collective strength. Causeur, Llull, Tavares and Hezonja all had their moments during the second quarter. A 4-10 run in the last three minutes gave us back a lead of more than 10 points before half time to end up with 46 points in the first half (34-46).
Video.71-85: Great Madrid win in Istanbul
Chus Mateo's side started the third quarter excellently. Five minutes of hurricane-like Madrid play, which was particularly devastating in offence. With Tavares playing inside and incredible with their three-pointers, scoring four in a row (three of them by Musa), increased the difference to +23 at the halfway through the third quarter (41-64). The Turkish team did their best to get back into the game with a fresh push led by Calathes (54-48, 30th minute).
A cool head and unity for the victory
After Tavares' fourth personal foul, the home side had something to hold onto as they finished the third quarter strongly. Additionally, Edwards emergence on court brought them closer to the 10 point barrier (62-73, 34th minute). The next few minutes would turn out to be an endurance test for Madrid. Madrid had to withstand, with a growing Fenerbahçe pressuring as well as the enormous support of their home fans. They used their heads and concentrated on defence. Great work from Deck and Hezonja closed down the rebounds. The Croatian forward was decisive in offence to boot, scoring two three-pointers while the Turkish side was down by 11, thus landing the killer blow to the game. Madrid came away with a very important win from Istanbul also giving a great image topped off with 108-66 index rating.
FENERBAHÇE-REAL MADRIDSTATISTICS
