Home EuroLeague Real Madrid, Armani Milano triumph in EuroLeague opener – Thursday roundup

Real Madrid, Armani Milano triumph in EuroLeague opener – Thursday roundup

Adam Hanga Real Madrid Anadolu Efes
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball

Real Madrid and Armani Milano made a dominant start in the 2021/22 EuroLeague, which tipped off on Thursday night.

The “Whites” were dominant from start to finish over the defending champions Anadolu Efes. They led by 17 early in the game (32-15) and 20 in the third quarter (68-48). As a result, they cruised to an easy 82-69 win in their opening game.

Real Madrid is one of the favorites to go all the way and dethrone Efes this season. And so is Armani Milano.

The Italians came back from a 10-point early deficit (19-29) and rallied past CSKA Moscow (84-74). The hosts were in control in the rest of the game and earned the win. On the other hand, CSKA also has to deal with the knee injury of Nikola Milutinov, which may cost him some time.

At the sold-out Menora Mivtachim Arena, Maccabi Tel-Aviv survived a late thriller against Bayern Munich (69-68). The Bavarians came back from a 17-point deficit (35-18) to take control (54-63). However, it was Scottie Wilbekin that closed out the game for the Israelis.

The American guard led his team to a 15-5 run in the final minutes and went for a career-high 28 points (13 in the fourth quarter). For their part, Bayern missed a couple of attempts in the final seconds and lost their season opener in the EuroLeague.

In their first-ever EuroLeague game, Monaco rallied past Panathinaikos and cruised to an easy 75-63 victory. The hosts led by as many as 22 points in the contest and claimed their first-ever win in the competition.

EuroLeague action continues on Friday, with five games completing Round 1.

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