Liga Endesa: Real Madrid stays unbeaten

We are five rounds into the Spanish Liga Endesa season and things are already starting to take shape. Real Madrid is waltzing at the top of the standings, while arch rival Barcelona is getting warmed up after an indifferent start. Elsewhere, round 5 of Liga Endesa threw up plenty of other talking points. Read below for details on derby games, surprises, and big wins.

In a Madrid derby, Estudiantes invited their illustrious neighbors Real Madrid and was promptly taken out by Los Blancos. Real Madrid won 88-96 to stay undefeated with a 5-0 record at the top of the table. Jaycee Carroll led the visitors with 24 points and helped the winners plunder 59 points in a huge second half.

Real Madrid’s biggest Liga Endesa threat, FC Barcelona, has been less impressive at the start of the campaign. However, the Catalan giant clicked this weekend with a big 80-58 home win over Sevilla. It was an expected win, but Barcelona looked good visiting. Sevilla hardly helped its cause with 24 personal fouls. Marcus Eriksson paced Barcelona with 17 points.

Vitoria Baskonia continued its good start to the season with a victory over Joventut, picking up a handy 83-90 road win. The loss consigned Joventut to the bottom of the standings without a single win this season. Baskonia is flying, however, and dished 22 assists in this contest to show the unity in the roster at the moment.

Valencia recovered from its loss to Real Madrid with a big road win over Obradoiro. The club was on the road but still managed a 75-92 victory. Valencia handed out 24 assists in an unselfish display and also drained 19-of-24 from the charity strip to ensure some easy free points. Bojan Dubljevic was the offensive architect as he hit 6-from-7 in the field on his way to 19 points and 5 rebounds.