The Baskonia shooter erupted for 18 points in the second quarter.
Historic Markus Howard boosted Baskonia

Things were looking bleak for Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at the end of the first quarter in Thursday’s crucial encounter with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
The visiting team had produced a smooth offensive exhibition in the opening 10 minutes, with Wade Baldwin proving particularly hard to handle as Maccabi established a 20-26 lead.
Baskonia’s task was further complicated by the fact that key performer Tadas Sedekerskis, the league’s leading rebounder, had been ruled out of the game through injury, joining Matt Costello, Khalifa Diop and Chris Chiozza on the sidelines, leaving a 12-man roster containing three youngsters who have never played a single second in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Enter Markus Howard.
The Spanish team’s offensive talisman had been quiet in the opening quarter, scoring only 2 points after missing all 3 of his three-point attempts. His second period, however, would prove to be historic.
He started off with another layup driving to the basket, before returning to more familiar territory by hitting his first three-pointer of the night. Then came 2 more triples in the next two minutes, before adding another layup after gliding through the defense. He returned to three-point territory to strike again, before adding his seventh and final basket of the quarter – without a single miss - with a neat inside finish.
Those heroics gave Baskonia a double-digit lead which provided the foundation for a key 92-82 victory, securing head to head advantage over Maccabi. And it also allowed Howard to set a new club record for second-quarter scoring with 18 points. It was just 1 point short of the Baskonia record for scoring in any quarter, set by Andres Nocioni in 2014.
This wasn’t the first time that Howard’s shooting heroics have boosted Baskonia, and it won’t be the last. But on the night that his short-handed team gained a vital victory and head-to-head advantage over a direct rival in the race for the playoffs, it was surely one of the most important.