Siena seemed to be doing everything right up until the last quarter and seemed to be heading towards an easy victory against a Real Madrid that was lost on the court. Boy, were they wrong! The guests outscored the Italians in the final quarter in easily cruised to the final 68-78.
Never write off an opponent in the Top 16. That should become a lesson to Siena players. The hosts entered the court strong and decided to get this win and keep their chances good for play-off qualification. Real Madrid on the other hand looked lost, giving the hosts no troubles in getting a first quarter 7-point lead (20-13).
Siena’s lead grew to 15 early in the second quarter (28-13), a margin that was easily maintained for the best part of the period, while it also grew up to 17 (37-20), mostly behind Nikos Zisis’ and David Moss’ offensive efforts. All that the guests managed to do before the halftime buzzer was to cut down the margin to 12 (40-28), without however changing how they looked on court.
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Same picture in the third quarter: Siena was rather relaxed and kept a safe distance from Ettore Messina’s group for at least halfway into the quarter (55-38 in 26’) and without any significant problems closed the quarter being up by 10 (62-52).
And that was about all that the hosts had to offer. Real Madrid outscored Siena 6-26 in the final quarter, getting half their points from youngster Nikola Mirotic (13) and despite the final margin doesn’t show an easy win, the guests were never threatened by the Italians throughout the entire quarter. Siena is 0 for 2 and Real Madrid on the right path to clinch first place of the group.
Montepaschi Siena 68-78 Real Madrid
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