Real Madrid’s evergreen 33-year-old playmaker Facundo Campazzo produced a truly flawless performance in a 95-72 whitewash of KK Crvena zvezda, personifying an impressive team effort as the hosts dominated in all departments from start to finish. 

Imperious Real trampled Zvezda all over the court 

[Real Madrid](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/real-madrid/games/mad/)’s evergreen 33-year-old playmaker [Facundo Campazzo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/facundo-campazzo/005928/) produced a truly flawless performance in a 95-72 whitewash of [Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/crvena-zvezda-meridianbet-belgrade/games/red/), personifying an impressive team effort as the hosts dominated in all departments from start to finish.

Campazzo sank 13 points without missing a single shot, making both his efforts from the floor and all 8 from the foul line, while dishing out 6 assists and committing no turnovers as he pulled all the strings.

Showing the maturity of a tried and tested veteran in Europe’s premier club competition, Campazzo was once again the driving force behind Real’s smooth display, watched at Wizink Center by a couple of the football team’s stars, Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior and French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">✌️⚽🏀✌️<a href="https://twitter.com/realmadrid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RealMadrid</a> 🤝 <a href="https://twitter.com/RMBaloncesto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RMBaloncesto</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HalaMadrid?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HalaMadrid</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroLeague</a> <a href="https://t.co/zW0h9f1Kgl">pic.twitter.com/zW0h9f1Kgl</a></p>&mdash; Real Madrid Basket (@RMBaloncesto) <a href="https://twitter.com/RMBaloncesto/status/1849549535548170454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Campazzo was quick to thank Vinicius for turning up after the Brazil international scored a second-half hat-trick in Real’s memorable 5-2 Champions League win over German side Borussia Dortmund earlier this week, as the home side fought back from a 2-0 halftime deficit.

“It’s awesome that he came here to support us, as we also support the football team every time they play,” the Argentine point guard said in a post-game interview.  “We are working hard to play at a high level all the time like we did today and we knew that Zvezda is a dangerous team.”

Real confined Zvezda to 2-of-14 shooting from deep in the first half and restricted the visitors to just 4 assists while forcing 6 turnovers, having racked up 21 rebounds and 6 steals. Real also managed 15 assists and made 11 of 14 from two-point territory, setting the tone for an equally one-sided second half.

Real ended up winning the battle of the boards 42-34 and making 18 of 25 shots from inside the arc, while draining 12 of 32 from deep. In contrast, Zvezda struggled heavily on offense and made a mere 15 of 37 from two-point territory as well as 9 of 32 from downtown, much to the delight of Real’s head coach Chus Mateo who praised his team’s defense.

“This is the kind of consistency we’ve been trying to find since the beginning of the season,” said the 55-year-old tactician. “We were able to control their shooters and did a very good job defensively.”

“This is the way forward as everybody needs to work hard every day to improve. We will have ups and downs in what will be a long season and we have to be together to overcome tough moments when they come.” 

Game News

The visitors had no reply for Real’s fast-paced offense which went hand in hand with ironclad defense

Real Madrid v Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (2024-10-24T18:45:00.000Z)

Paris Basketball superstar TJ Shorts may be just 5-foot-9 tall, but he had another dominant performance in Round 5 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season as his squad beat AS Monaco in this week's Rivalry Series game.

TJ Shorts epitomizes the definition of heart over height  

For undersized basketball players all over the world, [TJ Shorts](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/tj-shorts/012608/) is proving that you don’t need to be 6-foot or taller in order to dominate.

Standing at 5-foot-9 (1.75m), Shorts played with the heart of a 6-foot-6 guard on Thursday night as he led his Paris Basketball squad to [an 80-87 win at AS Monaco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/tj-shorts-inspires-paris-to-rivalry-series-win-over-monaco-80-87/) in this week’s Rivalry Series game.

Many fans may not have known a lot about Shorts before this season, but the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague rookie has already become a household name just five games into his EuroLeague career.

If his first three appearances showed he can make the step up, his last two games have seen him turn into a EuroLeague superstar. Paris could feel hard done by to have gone 0-3 to start the campaign, but Shorts has taken his game to another level in recent weeks to help his team notch back-to-back wins against two sides who made last year’s EuroLeague Playoffs: Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, the reigning champion, and now Monaco.

Viewers of the NBA will remember how Isaiah Thomas – another 5-foot-9 (1.75m) guard – showed that heart triumphs over height back in his incredible 2016-17 season with the Boston Celtics, and now Shorts who is doing the same with Paris in the EuroLeague.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BIG RESPECT🫡 🤝 <a href="https://t.co/cZcenFg91E">https://t.co/cZcenFg91E</a></p>&mdash; Paris Basketball (@ParisBasketball) <a href="https://twitter.com/ParisBasketball/status/1849548920570908827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It is fascinating to remember just how far the Paris star has come in the last few years. Just five years ago, he was playing in the top flight of the Latvian League. And over the last three years, he has worked his way up the ranks on the European stage, too, passing through the FIBA Europe Cup (2021-22), the FIBA Basketball Champions League (2022-23) and the BKT EuroCup (2023-24) before finally arriving in the EuroLeague.

What’s more, he is coming off back-to-back MVP seasons in Europe, having led Telekom Baskets Bonn to BCL glory in 2023 and Paris to the EuroCup title in 2024. Last season, Shorts was named the French League MVP over his opponent on Thursday night, Monaco’s [Mike James](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mike-james/005985/), the all-time leading scorer in EuroLeague history.

Straight from the tip at Salle Gaston Medecin, Shorts made sure his Paris squad was playing at an electric pace, scoring 11 first-quarter points and conducting everything on offense. He didn’t slow down in the second quarter either, with Shorts having 19 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists to his name as Paris entered the break with a six-point advantage, 43-49, having led the entire game to that point.

Paris Basketball head coach Tiago Splitter spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat AS Monaco in Round 5 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Tiago Splitter: 'TJ Shorts was a monster'

Even if Monaco did fight back in the third to enter the final quarter with a 64-63 edge, Shorts surpassed his previous career high of 22 points by moving to 25 points, while he added one assist to take his tally to 4. In the final frame, he showed why he is already one of the best playmaking guards in the EuroLeague by dishing six assists and scoring three points, giving him a 28-point, 10-assist double-double come the final buzzer – and most importantly, the victory.

“It’s an amazing feeling right now for us to get our first road win against, I guess you could call, one of our rivals in the French League,” Shorts told EuroLeague TV after Paris’ Rivalry Series triumph at Monaco. “It’s huge for us and it just builds confidence. We’re going to continue to roll with it.

“We’ve lost a lot of tight games and we feel like we’re right there to get over that hump. This is only going to boost our confidence to continue for the reason of the season, and hopefully there are more wins in the future.”

There were some doubts about Shorts entering the 2024-25 season, particularly after Tuomas Iisalo – the 27-year-old’s coach for the last two years at Bonn and Paris – departed the French club this past offseason. Yet, he is now thriving against the best of the best under first-year head coach Tiago Splitter.

Just like he has done his entire career, Shorts is proving his doubters wrong once again.

The 27-year-old was unstoppable as Paris beat Monaco in Round 5

TJ Shorts epitomizes the definition of heart over height

AS Monaco v Paris Basketball (2024-10-24T17:00:00.000Z)

It wasn’t easy – even though it looked like it might be – but Anadolu Efes Istanbul eventually held on to pull away from EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, 84-96, and improve to 3-2.

Efes poise overcame Milan fightback, Larkin injury

It wasn’t easy – even though it looked like it might be – but [Anadolu Efes Istanbul ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/anadolu-efes-istanbul/roster/ist/?season=2024-25)eventually held on to pull away from [EA7 Emporio Armani Milan](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/ea7-emporio-armani-milan/roster/mil/?season=2024-25), 84-96, and improve to 3-2.

The first two quarters were a comfortable walk in the park for the Turkish team, which raced into a 21-point lead by halftime after a smooth offensive performance that yielded 14 assists and 46 points, while Milan continued its struggles from the previous week’s [collapse against Zalgiris Kaunas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/game-center/2024-25/ea7-emporio-armani-milan-zalgiris-kaunas/E2024/29/).

It looked and felt like game over as the jeers rang around Unipol Forum when the players headed into the locker rooms at the interval, but Milan – whose head coach Ettore Messina described his team’s first-half performance as “very, very disgraceful” – showed plenty of pride and made a major improvement after the break.

Game Videos

On the back of spectacular three-point shooting which saw Milan make 7 of its first 8 triples in the second half, the home team dragged itself back into contention, with Efes suffering the additional blow of losing star guard [Shane Larkin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/shane-larkin/007200/) to injury.

But Efes was able to maintain a well-balanced offense to pull away again in the final quarter, ending with an exceptional 27-of-32 two-point shooting (84.4%), plus a more than acceptable 11-of-23 from three-point range (47.8%).

Victorious Coach Tomislav Mijatovic was delighted with his team’s response to Milan’s spirited recovery, saying that he was most impressed with…”our ball sharing, our relentlessness, our willingness to fight for each other, even in a tough moment for all of us when we saw that Shane got injured.

“Of course it affects all of us, because he’s our teammate, he’s our guy, and we hope that it’s nothing too serious. But the guys stepped up for him, so it’s a team effort and a team victory. We had to really put out best effort and the guys got a tremendous win.

“When you have a 20-point lead on the road at the half, you know the \[home\] team is going to react, especially a team that has so much potential and is coached so well. They reacted, but credit to our guys, we never put our head down even in the toughest moment.”

One of the key performers was [Darius Thompson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/darius-thompson/011078/), the man who replaced Larkin as Efes’s main playmaker and responded by draining 10 points in the last 12 minutes to help his team cross the finish line.

Thompson, who finished with 17 points and 7 assists, said: “It was a ‘next man up’ mentality. He \[Larkin\] went down so we needed somebody to make plays, I had the ball so I tried to do what I can to help the team.”

With that kind of mentality, Efes continued its rise up the standings.

Even though it looked as if Efes might blow its lead, Coach Mijatovic's men stood tall in the end

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan v Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2024-10-24T18:30:00.000Z)

Real Madrid romped to a 95-72 home rout of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 5 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, improving its record to 3-2 while the visitors suffered a second straight defeat after winning their opening three games.

Real rolls to emphatic home win over shorthanded Zvezda, 95-72

Real Madrid romped to a 95-72 home rout of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 5 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, improving its record to 3-2 while the visitors suffered a second straight defeat after winning their opening three games.

It was also a second successive loss for Zvezda against Spanish opposition after last week’s dramatic overtime loss at home to FC Barcelona, 94-98, only this time it was a completely lopsided contest against last season’s EuroLeague runner-up.

Livewire playmaker Facundo Campazzo led the way with 13 points and 6 assists, including a couple of audacious passes through the legs of rival players which had fans at Wizink Center on their feet.

Dzanan Musa paced Real with 17 points, twin towers Eli Ndiaye and Walter Tavares added 12 each and Gabriel Deck chipped in with 10 for the hosts, who fired on all cylinders from start to finish. At the other end, veteran playmaker Milos Teodosic came off the bench to lead Zvezda with 11 points, finishing as the only visiting player in double figures.

Having center Joel Bolomboy sidelined by a knee injury and guard Nemanja Nedovic preemptively rested to avoid one, Zvezda scored the first 2 points of the game, but Real hit back with a 10-0 run to set the tone for the remainder of the contest. Airtight defense coupled with inspired offense from Campazzo saw Real surge ahead 22-10 in the first quarter, and the lead soared to 46-29 at halftime as the home players kept trapping Zvezda’s guards with aggressive half-court pressure and double teams.

Zvezda fought hard to stay in the game but the best the visitors could do was to slash the deficit to 15 points before Real moved up a gear to lead 67-43 late in the third quarter and then 91-63 in the dying minutes, for the home side’s biggest advantage in this cat-and-mouse contest.

Real, which seems to have found its feet after a wobbly start to the season in Europe’s premier club competition, visits Olympiacos Piraeus next week in a Round 6 blockbuster while Zvezda faces a daunting trip to Zalgiris Kaunas, the regular season’s surprise package after winning four of its opening five games.

The Spanish giant hardly broke a sweat in an easy victory over its Serbian rival, which sorely missed two key players 

Markus Howard’s season-high 26 points included 7-of-14 three-point shooting and Baskonia won 80-57 at home to move to 3-2 with a 3-0 record at Buesa Arena. 

Markus Howard outburst shined brightest, but Baskonia beat ALBA with defense, rebounding 

The easy way to look at [Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz’s dominant victory over ALBA Berlin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/baskonia-dominates-alba-80-57-to-remain-perfect-at-home/) was a red-hot [Markus Howard](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/markus-howard/011948/) scoring 26 points. But coach Pablo Laso’s Spanish side showed it can play tough defense as well as rise to the challenge against a strong rebounding team.

Howard’s season-high 26 points included 7-of-14 three-point shooting and Baskonia won 80-57 at home to move to 3-2 with a 3-0 record at Buesa Arena. The star scorer was not the story of the game though for the Baskonia coach.

“We have very good scorers. Obviously Markus having 7 three-pointers was a big part of the victory. But defensively we did a very good job keeping ALBA under 60 points. That speaks very good about our defense,” Laso said.

Markus Howard made 7 threes against ALBA

Even Howard was much more keen on talking about the defensive end.

“I think our defense really won us the game today. In the first half we held them to 26 points. That’s something to be applauded. Give great credit to everybody who was on the floor tonight,” Howard said. 

ALBA came into the game as the worst three-point shooting team in the competition at just 24.5 percent. And Baskonia didn’t let the German side correct their woes, holding the visitors to just 26.3% from long range as well as just 46.3% on two-pointers. 

Another major story in the victory was Baskonia’s dominance on the glass - 47-36 including grabbing 15 offensive rebounds to 8 for ALBA, which led to a 15-4 advantage in second chance points. 

“We made a point before the game that rebounding would be a key to control the rhythm and win because ALBA runs extremely fast in the primary fast break and they shoot the ball very well,” said [Nikos Rogkavopoulos](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nikolaos-rogkavopoulos/011085/), who had 6 rebounds - including 3 from the offensive glass.

Limiting ALBA to 8 offensive rebounds was right on Baskonia’s average of opponent’s offensive rebounds - good for second in the league. But ALBA came into the game ranked first in offensive rebounds with 14.0 per game as well as being the number-one rebounding team in the league. ALBA also ranked first in limiting its opponents to just 7.8 offensive rebounds.

That didn’t work against Baskonia as besides Rogkavopoulos’s 3 offensive rebounds, [Khalifa Diop](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/khalifa-diop/008072/) grabbed 4 from the offensive glass, [Chima Moneke](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/chima-moneke/012201/) 3 and [Ousmane Ndiaye](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/ousmane-ndiaye/012058/) had 1 offensive rebound. And while [Donta Hall](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/donta-hall/011196/) did not have an offensive rebound, he ended with 6 rebounds.

“Our big guys, Khalifa, Donta, Ousmane, Nikos, they were great on the offensive rebounds. They created extra possessions for us. Hat goes off to those guys. They really stepped up,” said Howard.

It’s always a boost for team morale when the guy who gets the spotlight makes sure to mention those who did some of the less sexy things in the win, which is just what Markus Howard did. This was a good win for Baskonia to learn from and one which showed it can play tough defense as well. 

The hosts had 11 more rebounds - and 11 more second-chance points

Markus Howard shined bright but Baskonia beat ALBA with defense, rebounding 

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v ALBA Berlin (2024-10-24T18:30:00.000Z)

Anadolu Efes Istanbul gained a second straight win and piled more misery on struggling EA7 Emporio Armani Milan by holding on for a road victory, 84-96, on Thursday. Efes improves to 3-2, while Milan drops to 1-4.

Efes piles more misery on Milan with 84-96 road win

Anadolu Efes Istanbul gained a second straight win and piled more misery on struggling EA7 Emporio Armani Milan by holding on for a road victory, 84-96, on Thursday. Efes improves to 3-2, while Milan drops to 1-4.

Efes raced into an early 8-point lead and never looked back, extending the margin beyond 20 points before halftime. Milan improved drastically after the break and got within 4 points with a 22-5 charge, but the visitors found fresh resolve to pull away again in the fourth.

Efes, which lost Shane Larkin to injury, was led by Elijah Bryant with 19 points. Darius Thompson provided 17 points and 7 assists, with Ercan Osmani, Jordan Nwora and Rolands Smits all scoring 11. Nikola Mirotic shined with 29 points for Milan, while Zach LeDay recorded 16 points and 7 rebounds.

Mirotic opened the scoring with a layup, but a triple from Osmani propelled Efes on a 0-10 run, capped by a deep strike from Bryant, for the early lead. Mirotic’s long two and a fast-break slam from Leandro Bolmaro briefly lifted Milan, but Osmani scored twice before Thompson hit a triple and threw down an alley-oop, and Bryant netted a jumper for an 11-23 lead after ten minutes.

Larkin’s layup and a three-point play from Smits stretched the lead further early in the second, and Dan Oturu’s put-back made it 13-30. Guglielmo Caruso and Stefano Tonut stopped the bleeding, but Oturu threw down a pair of big slams and Rodrigue Beaubois sank a three for 17-37. Beaubois again connected from deep, before Bryant and Osmani scored inside to make it 25-46 at the break.

Mirotic and Shavon Shields hit three-pointers early in the third, but Bryant answered with two scores. LeDay further reduced the gap with 5 straight points, 40-53, as Larkin limped off with an ankle injury. Bryant settled Efes with another three, but Mirotic and Shields brought it back to a single-digit margin, 47-56. LeDay’s slam and one and a Shields transition bucket made it even closer, 52-56, before Smits answered from long-range and Thompson added a three-point play. Beaubois and Armoni Brooks traded triples, and it was 59-66 after three quarters.

Smits’s jumper was bettered by Diego Flaccadori’s triple early in the final period before Thompson made it 62-71 with another deep strike. Nwora’s inside score and Vincent Poirier’s three-point play gave Efes another double-digit margin with 6 minutes left before Smits struck from beyond the arc. A pair of Mirotic three-pointers and another from LeDay gave Milan hope, but Nwora netted from both long-range and at the basket for a 74-88 lead, which proved decisive.

The winners, however, may have lost Shane Larkin to injury

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz rebounded from its loss in Round 4 with a dominant 80-57 victory over ALBA Berlin to remain perfect at home this season

Baskonia dominates ALBA 80-57 to remain perfect at home 

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz rebounded from its loss in Round 4 with a dominant 80-57 victory over ALBA Berlin to remain perfect at home this season. The Spanish side, which lost 76-69 at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in the last game, took control of the home showing against ALBA with a 15-0 run to close the third quarter for a 3-2 record - including 3-0 at the Buesa Arena.

Markus Howard led the way in the win with 26 points including 7 three-pointers and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 11 points. Martin Hermannsson’s 16 points were not enough to keep ALBA from falling to 1-4. 

Baskonia came out firing from long range with triples from Kamar Baldwin and Luwawu-Cabarrot in taking a 10-1 lead. ALBA needed more than 2 minutes to score its first basket. Another triple from Luwawu-Cabarrot and a Donta Hall jumper increased the host’s lead to 22-11. And the score was 24-13 after 10 minutes. 

Baskonia added the first 4 points of the second quarter for an 11-2 run spanning the periods and a 28-13 lead before Hermannsson tallied ALBA’s first points of the quarter after almost 3 minutes played. Nikos Ragkovopoulos was the next Baskonia player to hit from deep as the advantage grew to 20 points - 35-15. Hermannsson and Justin Bean both scored two baskets as ALBA fought to trim the margin to 39-26 at the break.

ALBA started better out of the locker room with Hermannsson and Bean hitting three-pointers and a Wetzell dunk making it 42-36. Howard responded with 2 triples to re-establish a 12-point lead. ALBA managed to trim the gap to 8 only to see Howard and Ragkovopoulos drain back-to-back triples and Baskonia led 56-40. Howard added a four-point play and his fifth triple of the quarter and Baskonia was up 63-40 after 30 minutes.

After Howard started the fourth quarter with a basket, ALBA started another run of 3-12 to shorten the deficit to 68-52 with 5:31 minutes to go. But Luwawu-Cabarrot and Howard hit from deep at the other end and the Baskonia defense kept ALBA scoreless for almost 3 minutes to end all doubts. 

The Basque side is now 3-0 at Buesa Arena

Zalgiris’s complete first-quarter display led the way against Maccabi

[Zalgiris Kaunas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/zalgiris-kaunas/zal/) took to the Zalgirio Arena court on Thursday evening exactly as you would expect a team coming off two straight road wins - including the second-biggest comeback victory in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history at[ EA7 Emporio Armani Milan](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/ea7-emporio-armani-milan/roster/mil/?season=2024-25) - to start off a big home-court clash.

“We understood that we had to come out and play aggressive, because it’s our home court and the games we won on the road don’t mean anything unless we win at home,” [Bryant Dunston](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/players/bryant-dunston/003048/) explained to EuroLeague TV after the game.

The hosts hit the ground running, demonstrating why they came into the duel as EuroLeague’s stingiest defense with an average of 72.8 conceded points per game. Zalgiris kept the competition’s sixth-best offense (85.0 ppg) to just 7 points by producing an extraordinary defensive display in the first quarter. This was Maccabi’s lowest point tally in a quarter in the last 18 months. In fact, the last time a team held them to just 7 points was [April 6, 2023](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/zalgiris-kaunas-maccabi-playtika-tel-aviv/E2022/295/), against the same opponent at the same arena with the same outcome (68-67).

Zalgiris took a 26-7 lead into the second quarter and maintained it at 44-24 after 20 minutes. Having rallied back from 64-37 down midway through the third quarter to win 82-85 last week in Milan, Zalgiris’ players were aware that the game against Maccabi was anything but over.

“We had a big lead at halftime,” Dunston added. “We understood that, because we came back from a big lead in the last game, they’re not going to give up. No one in the EuroLeague gives up and keeps fighting. So, it was important for us to control the game the rest of the way.”

Maccabi showed character and fought back after the break, with Saben Lee bringing them within 65-55 with 6:01 left on the clock. Yet, the [undermanned Israeli side](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/injury-report-round-5-tae2425/), which missed Tamir Blatt, Rokas Jokubaitis and Wenyen Gabriel due to injuries, didn’t manage to step things up a gear. Zalgiris tightened up its defense and kept Maccabi to just 1 point in the last 3:37 minutes to put the game to bed.

This was Zalgiris’s fourth win in five games so far, with the Lithuanian side conceding more than 68 points in just one of their victories. A two-round week is coming up next, with Zalgiris hosting [Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/crvena-zvezda-meridianbet-belgrade/roster/red/?season=2024-25) and [AS Monaco](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/as-monaco/roster/mco/?season=2024-25). And, should head coach Andrea Trinchieri’s side perform at the same level on defense next week, they could well extend their winning streak to five games and remain in the upper part of the standings.

Zalgiris’ complete first-quarter display led the way against Maccabi

Zalgiris Kaunas v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2024-10-24T17:00:00.000Z)

Zalgiris Kaunas extended its winning streak to three games by defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv BC 78-63 in Round 5 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season at a packed Zalgirio Arena on Thursday evening. 

Zalgiris overpowers Maccabi, 78-63

Zalgiris Kaunas extended its winning streak to three games by defeating Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 78-63 in Round 5 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague at a packed Zalgirio Arena on Thursday evening. The hosts led from start to finish, despite Maccabi’s efforts to get back into the game. With its second home victory of the campaign, Zalgiris improved its record to 4-1. Meanwhile, Maccabi’s second consecutive loss means that it dropped to 2-3.

Edgaras Ulanovas paced Zalgiris with 14 points, with Dovydas Giedraitis going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to end the game on 13 points. For the visitors, Saben Lee led all scorers with 17 points, while Jasiel Rivero and Levi Randolph scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Zalgiris started the game in style, with the hosts going on a 12-0 run. Ignas Brazdeikis got Zalgiris’s offense up and running with a triple before buckets from Matthew Mitchell and Bryant Dunston, as well as a three-pointer from Giedraitis allowed their team to hit the ground running. Maccabi netted its first points 4:18 minutes into the game, with Jaylen Hoard nailing one from deep. Yet, a triple from Ulanovas and 2 free throws from Mitchell set a 17-5 Zalgiris cushion. Laurynas Birutis came off the bench to net unanswered 5 points before Sylvain Francisco free throws extended Zalgiris’s lead to 26-7 after 10 minutes.

Zalgiris started the second quarter the way it kicked off the first, with Deividas Sirvydis and Francisco drilling one triple each for a 6-0 run. Maccabi responded with Rivero completing a three-point play before a bucket from Lee in transition and a Rafi Menco triple cut the difference to 32-15. Roman Sorkin and Brazdeikis exchanged long jumpers before put-back buckets from Dunston allowed his team to take a 44-22 lead into the second half.

Two Randolph baskets sandwiched a Giedraitis triple before Mitchell completed a three-point play to extend Zalgiris’s lead to 52-28. Yet, the visitors showed character and fought back, as 5 points from Sorkin and back-to-back triples from Lee, Randolph and 18-year-old Omer Mayer brought Maccabi within 59-46 after 30 minutes.

Randolph opened the fourth quarter with a layup, but Sirvydis made 3 of 3 from the line and Alen Smailagic completed a three-point play to create a 65-48 lead for the Lithuanian side. Yet, Maccabi didn’t give up, with Rivero and Lee netting 4 points each to bring the visitors within 65-55. An exchange of blows followed, with Zalgiris maintaining a double-digit lead, as Ulanovas sank a triple to reply to a Lee three-point play for a 74-62 cushion with 3:37 remaining. Then, five straight great defensive plays from Zalgiris held Maccabi scoreless for more than 3 minutes and practically finished the game off.

The Lithuanian side led by 20 points at halftime after a dominant first-half performance