Unstoppable Tavares leads 9-man Real roster past full-strength CSKA / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Sonia Canada/Getty Images Credit Sonia Canada/Getty Images

Despite having 9 players in their disposition, Real Madrid (14-3) prevailed full-loaded CSKA Moscow (10-7) 71-65 (24-14, 13-26, 19-15, 15-10) to get their third Turkish Airlines EuroLeague win in a row.

Player of the Game EFF 28 Walter Tavares Points 15 Accuracy 6-11 Rebounds 10 Assists 1

Real started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 push and created a double-digit lead (65-55). Sergio Llull and Urban Klavzar drained three treys. The Whites locked up CSKA, not letting them score for 5 straight minutes.

Alexey Shved terminated the silence, hitting a shot from deep (58-65). Both clubs were struggling to score while Nigel Williams-Goss drained a jumper (67-58) with 3:25 to go.

Iffe Lundberg responded with a three-point shot on the other end (61-67) but Williams-Goss nailed a duo (69-61) with 1:31 to play. Will Clyburn sank two shots from the line, however, Williams-Goss continued his solo performance (71-63). CSKA were pouring treys off the mark and Real celebrated the unexpected W.

For the winners, Walter Tavares dominated under the baskets, posting 15 points (6/11 2PT, 3/3 FT), 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 4 drawn fouls, and 28 PIR.

"It’s hard to play a tough team in the EuroLeague, if not the best, then one of the best. We missed a lot of guys so we came here to fight and try to do something. As our coach said, we had to believe, try our best, to see if we can win or not. Never give up and fight until the end – this is Madrid," said Tavares post-game.

Nikola Milutinov was the top performer of CSKA, accumulating 13 points (5/7 2PT, 3/3 FT), 10 rebounds, 1 assist, and 23 PIR.

Real opened the game with an 11-0 run. Their lead reached the apex of 14 points (17-3) in the mid-first period. Though, CSKA answered with an 11-2 spurt on their own and cut the deficit to 5 points (21-26).

Dimitris Itoudis' squad did not stop and closed the first half, organizing a 14-2 push to be in front by 3 points (40-37).

The third quarter went neck and neck while the Royal club created the minimal advantage (56-55) before the last 10 minutes of the game.

Real Madrid played without seven players due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Adam Hanga, Anthony Randolph, Guerschon Yabusele, Juan Nunez, Vincent Poirier, Fabien Causeur, Thomas Heurtel, and bench boss Pablo Laso could not participate in the match.

The Royal club registered only 9 players, including Baba Miller, Sediq Garuba, Urban Klavzar (born in 2004), and Tristan Vuckevic (born in 2003).

Real: Nigel Williams-Goss 17 (6 REB, 5 AST), Walter Tavares 15 (10 REB, 4 BLK), Sergio Llull 10 (4 REB), Urban Klavzar 10.

CSKA: Will Clyburn 16 (13 REB, 21 PIR), Nikola Milutinov 13 (10 REB), Iffe Lundberg 10.

Highlights

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