Rivalries Renewed in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Tilt
Round 12 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague tipped off on Thursday, December 13th and the five games played were highlighted by a couple of domestic rivalries that were played out in this league’s setting. Spanish and Russian hoops fans were in for an extra treat as some local rivals took to the hardwood to settle scores and battle for pride and glory.
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona Lassa had an El Clasico encounter and in this chapter, Real Madrid totally smashed their guests to pieces with a demoralizing 92-65 blowout victory. The win takes them to 10-2 as they cling to third place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings. Trey Thompkins and Anthony Randolph paved the way with their 17 and 16 points, respectively. Barcelona are now 6-6 but are still in striking distance to make it to the top-8. However, with a .500 win percentage, they will have to work on ways to improve their approach.
Moscow was lit with excitement as CSKA Moscow and Khimki Moscow Region had a derby game. CSKA moved on to 10-2 after dropping Khimki 88-74. They are second in the league standings, tied with Real Madrid with identical records. It was a well-rounded team effort with five of their players chipping in with double-digit scoring. Veteran Sergio Rodriguez led the bench mob with 12 points and five assists.
Turkish Airlines EuroLeague leaders Fenerbahce Istanbul added another win to their already impressive 11-1 slate. The beat AX Armani Exchange 92-85. Jan Vesely did his thing with 17 points for the Turkish Titans and Marko Guduric crushed the opposition with 20 points of his own.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz got on track with a win over the struggling Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv, 79-81. They edged them just in time to hold steady at 11th place with a 5-7 record. Vincent Poirier delivered for the victors in the clutch, sealing the deal with 11 seconds left in regulation.
Olympiacos move up to fifth place in the standings after an impressive 88-81 win over fellow top-8 team Anadolu Efes. Neither team can be labeled a pushover, so as expected, the game was tightly contested. It took a big run for Olympiacos in the fourth quarter to come back and steal the win from the clutches of Anadolu Efes. Axel Toupane came through with 19 points off the bench.