Maccabi Tel Aviv have already put in a claim for performance of the Euroleague as they beat beat Red Star Belgrade 96-82 in Group D.
Seven players reached double-digits on the scoring front as the Israelis were in control from the opening few minutes of the game.
Devin Smith led Maccabi with 17 points with meaningful contributions from Joe Ingles, who got 16 and Shawn James with 13.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis also added 13 points.
“This hasn’t been an easy week, and we just wanted to turn things around,” James said afterwards. “We came out and played positive basketball, and we got the win.”
Boban Marjanovic led Red Star with 20 points as they still wait for their first win in the Euroleague this season.
Lokomotiv Kuban improved to 2-0 in Group D with a 68-53 win over Lietuvos Rytas, exacting revenge for their earlier defeat in the VTB League.
The Russians had no trouble disposing of their Lithuanian opponents. They led 19-10 after the first quarter and that lead grew as the game wore on. Lietuvos Rytas’ hero from their opening night win against Panathinaikos, Renaldas Seibutis was held to just five points as the visitors had a poor shooting night overall.
Derrick Brown led all scorers for Kuban with 22 points.
‘Today we came out fresh and everyone was defending at 100% of his possibilities,” Kuban coach Evgeny Pashutin said. “The opponent’s shooters didn’t have open shots. This energy on the defensive end and our effort on the glass didn’t allow easy boards to the opposing team.”
Euroleague champions Olympiacos beat Galatasaray 78-67 in Istanbul, but the win came with a scare.
The Reds raced out to a 22-11 lead after the first ten minutes but were pegged back to 57-56 in the third quarter. In true champion style though, a 14-2 run in the fourth sealed the win, in front of an incredibly hostile Turkish crowd.
The prolific Vassilis Spanoulis led Olympaicos with 18 points. Nate Jawai led all scorers with 22 for Galatasaray.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid were easy 98-58 winners over Brose Baskets Bamberg.
Sergio Llull led the winners with 16 points.
“We had a good start to the game and a good start to the season,” Lull said. “The team is in very good shape and the new signings have adjusted to our team very well.”
EA7 Milano kept Zalgiris winless so far in the Euroleague by winning 82-72 in Italy.
Nicolo Melli led all scorers with 20 points for Milan.
