Advertisement

Basketball-Real and CSKA put on Euroleague masterclasses

By Zoran Milosavljevic BELGRADE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Euroleague heavyweights Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow lived up to their top billing with emphatic victories in the fourth round of the premier club competition's second group stage on Thursday. Real, winners of a record eight titles, romped to an 83-65 home win over Panathinaikos, while CSKA, who have claimed six trophies, blew away Unicaja Malaga 101-74 and stretched their perfect season to 14-0. Fast-paced Real, boasting a squad packed with talent and experience, overwhelmed the Greek side after their guards engineered a high-tempo performance allowing 34-year old centre Felipe Reyes to amass a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds. Former NBA guards Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez and their understudy Sergio Llull scored 39 points between them as Real celebrated their fourth successive win in the Top 16, featuring two groups of eight teams. "We defended the low post and their pick-and-roll set plays very well and that gave us the rhythm in offence," Real coach Pablo Laso told Euroleague television. Rodriguez added: "It was a very important game and a big win for us, so we can now look forward to the next round." SPECTACULAR DISPLAY High-scoring CSKA delivered another spectacular display thanks to inspired offence by their France guard Nando De Colo, who enjoyed a flawless afternoon with 28 points after hitting all his 11 shots from the field and two from the foul line. Centre Sasha Kaun, American forward Demetris Nichols and Serbia playmaker Milos Teodosic chipped in with 13 points each, the latter also dishing out 14 assists against the Spaniards. "Our players are totally unselfish and that's what paves the way for an efficient offence but we have to keep our feet on the ground because there is still room for improvement," CSKA's Greek coach Dimitris Itoudis said. "We are less than halfway through the season and need to work on our defence because we gave Unicaja too many open shots in the first quarter." Fenerbahce Istanbul, who lost their opening two home games in the second group stage, ground out a second away win after Czech forward Jan Vesely led them to an 82-71 success at Emporio Armani Milan with 15 points and eight rebounds. Alba Berlin, who stunned Barcelona in the opening round and then suffered two successive defeats, sprung another upset with a 75-65 win at Galatasaray. (Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Ken Ferris)