FC Barcelona and Real Madrid maintained their top two push after Day 1 of EuroLeague Round 15.
The Catalans escaped from Belgrade with a big victory over Crvena Zvezda (69-76) and kept the top spot in the standings. The visitors were in control for the majority of the night and endured the Serbians’ comeback attempts to seal the deal.
FC Barcelona has now won seven straight games and improved to 13-2. On the contrary, Zvezda couldn’t extend their winning streak and dropped to 6-9.
At Wizink Center, Real Madrid bounced back from their loss to FC Barcelona last week and dominated ALBA Berlin (87-64). The “Whites” led by 17 at halftime (43-26) and cruised to the win.
Real remained undefeated at home (8-0) and climbed to 12-3 on the table. Meanwhile, ALBA fell to 5-10 and is next to the bottom.
Armani Milano protected its home court and rallied past Panathinaikos at Mediolanum Forum (75-54). A 16-0 run between the second and third quarter was enough for the hosts to take a double-digit lead and never look back.
Thanks to their victory, the Italians climbed to third, at 10-5. On the contrary, the “Greens” lost for the 11th time this season and have one of the worst records in the league (4-11).
Fenerbahce extended its winning streak to three games, after defeating Maccabi Tel-Aviv at home (90-79). The Turks outscored their opponents 28-12 in the third quarter and never looked back.
The Israelis cut the deficit to five (79-74), but the hosts stood tall and sealed the deal. Fenerbahce improved to 6-9 and maintained a playoff push. On the other hand, Maccabi is at 7-8 and has now lost five games in a row (7-8).
Anadolu Efes used a strong second-half performance to dominate Baskonia at home (87-72). The defending champions outscored the Basques 44-30 to cruise to the win.
Efes snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 7-8. For their part, Baskonia now have a 5-10 record and have lost eight of their last nine.
