Real put up a dominant performance against Baskonia as Heurtel gets close to a double-double / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Zuma Press - Scanpix Credit Zuma Press - Scanpix

Real Madrid (10-2) extended their winning streak to five after a successful trip to Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Player of the Game EFF 18 Thomas Heurtel Points 12 Accuracy 5-9 Rebounds 1 Assists 9

Blancos 88-60 (25-14, 28-20, 18-13, 17-13) beat Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (4-8) and at least until tomorrow evening went up to the first place of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

The visitors took control of the game from the beginning. Walter Tavares scored from inside the paint, Fabien Causeur added four points in a row, Alberto Abalde sank a mid-range jumper, and after a 16-5 run, Real built a double-digit lead (21-11).

Real continued their dominance in the second quarter. Sergio Llull made a 3-pointer, Nigel Williams-Goss made a lay-up, and with 2:37 minutes before half-time, Real were leading 50-31.

The second half was just a formality as Real maintained a safe lead and secured a convincing victory.

"First of all, congratulations to my players," said Pablo Laso. "I think we played a very solid game. We won all four quarters, which means we were very solid."

"I believe there were details in which we made mistakes, silly turnovers, some offensive rebounds that they grabbed, but in general terms, we had control of the game through our defense," he added.

Thomas Heurtel led the show for Real, accumulating 12 points (3/5 2PT, 2/4 3PT), 9 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, and 18 PIR.

Simone Fontecchio was the only positive for Baskonia, finishing the game with 14 points (3/5 2PTT, 2/5 3PT, 2/2 FT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, and 16 PIR.

"First of all, I am going to give credit to Real Madrid for an outstanding game tonight," Neven Spahija noted. "I don't think that we were at the level of this game except for the first 5 minutes."

"For the rest of the game, they did what they wanted and killed the game. As a coach, I was so many times in this situation and the medicine is the same: to get back to work and tell people what was wrong and what was good, and how to play better basketball.

In the end, I want to send a clear message to everybody, especially to the club and the fans. This is not the way how we are going to play basketball and how Baskonia is supposed to play. This means we can win, we can lose but we have to play as a team. The rest of the things, I will tell them to my players," Spahija concluded.

Baskonia: Simone Fontecchio 14 (7 REB), Steven Enoch 14 (5/12 2PT), Wade Baldwin 8 (2/9 2PT, 7 TO).

Real: Fabien Causeur 13 (4/5 2PT), Thomas Heurtel 12 (9 AST), Walter Tavares 12 (6/7 2PT).

Highlights

Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.