EuroLeague Semifinal Recap: Madrid, Fenerbahce Dogus Advance To Title Game
EuroLeague Semifinal Recap: Madrid, Fenerbahce Dogus Advance To Title Game
Luka Doncic lived up to the hype, guiding Real Madrid to the EuroLeague title game where they'll face Fenerbahce Dogus.
After a day of semifinal matchups in Belgrade, Real Madrid and Fenerbahce Dogus punched their tickets to the title game on Sunday, which you can watch right here on FloHoops.
In the first game of the day, Zalgiris Kaunas, led by American point guard Kevin Pangos, turned the ball over 20 times at the hands of a swarming, relentless Fenerbahce defense. The winners only turned the ball over 10 times, and used a score-by-committee approach to seal the deal. Ali Muhammed scored 19 points, Luigi Datome chipped in 16, and Kostas Sloukas contributed 14.
When Iowa alum Aaron White slammed home a drunk as the halftime buzzer sounded, Zalgiris appeared to be harnessing some of the momentum — but as the third quarter wore on each run was countered by a barrage from the Istanbul-based side.
The second game of the day was a seesaw affair from the get-go. Cory Higgins started the game on fire — raining three-pointers and smashing dunks alike — as did his teammates, and CSKA Moscow led the game 30-20 after the first quarter. But Real Madrid countered powerfully in the second quarter with a quick string of three-pointers that turned a double-digit deficit into a halftime lead.
Slovenian wonderboy Luka Doncic continued to fill up the stat sheet while CSKA Moscow saw the Spanish side increase their lead to nine points at one juncture. CSKA went five and a half minutes without scoring, a 13-0 run for Madrid.
After CSKA brought the game within five points early in the fourth quarter, Real Madrid — with Doncic on the bench for the first few minutes of the final frame — pulled away and threatened to put the game away.
In the end, despite several near-comebacks from CSKA, Real Madrid answered every punch with one of greater force, winning the game in a high-scoring affair, 93-82.