Real Madrid had an easy afternoon against Maccabi Tel Aviv and managed to continue their winning streak by defeating the Israeli team,79-63, on Wednesday (18/11).
Gabriel Deck was the leading scorer for Madrid with 16 points with Anthony Randolph adding another 15. For Maccabi, Scottie Wilbekin tried his best with 18 points while Ante Zizic contributed 14 points.
The Match
In the first quarter, it was Maccabi Tel Aviv the team that opened the score (0-2) with two free throws from Scottie Wilbekin. Real Madrid got their first lead in the game with a three pointer from Randolph (7-4) and extended it later on with another one from the same player (10-6). Despite Real Madrid’s great defensive efforts, their offense was a bit sloppy at times, giving Maccabi the chance to take the game down to a two-point lead for Madrid. Campazzo and Deck extended the lead for Real Madrid for once more (15-8) and the players of Pablo Laso had started building a safe lead in the first quarter. Successful offensive efforts from Bender brought Maccabi back on the game, trailing by 5 (21-16), but Real Madrid ended the first quarter with an 11- point lead (29-18).
In the second quarter, Real Madrid played outstanding defense on Maccabi who didn’t manage to function properly on offense despite a big three pointer from Tyler Dorsey in the beginning of the quarter (29-21). Maccabi tried to do something and managed to run their own 5-0 (29-23) with Real Madrid quickly stopping their momentum and bringing back the difference to double digits, (33-23). Six minutes before the end of the first half, Real Madrid lost Rudy Fernandez due to a minor injury and that’s when Maccabi started building their own run little by little (35-28). Ante Zizic managed to take the difference down to nine points (39-30) but Real Madrid was dominant and ended the first half securing a 13-point lead (45-32).
Maccabi Tel Aviv started the third quarter with two consecutive three pointers from Scottie Wilbekin knowing that they will have to find some score from the perimeter. Real Madrid had answers to Maccabi’s return keeping their lead to 8-10 points. Maccabi started finding their rhythm in both offense and defense despite the fact that they couldn’t see that on the score. Real Madrid saw Rudy Fernandez returning on the court after a minor injury in the second quarter, bringing some energy back and helping his team end the third quarter leading by 12 points (62-50).
In the fourth and final quarter, Maccabi had to play better defense and run on offense. Despite some missed shots from Real, Maccabi was still struggling to find score. Real Madrid stayed focuses and concentrated on their game plan and got another important win on their way back to the top seeds, 79-63.
