Madrid uses late run, Rodriguez free throws, to edge Efes

Real Madrid rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit and a 7-point hole with 2:18 to go to defeat Anadolu Efes Istanbul 90-85 on Friday night at Barclaycard Center and take a 2-0 lead in the teams’ best of five playoffs series. Madrid can record its third straight trip to the Turkkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four with a win in Game 3 – or, if necessary, Game 4 – in Istanbul next week. Sergio Llull starred for Madrid with 18 points and a career-high 12 assists, while reigning Euroleague MVP scored all of his 11 points in the final three minutes. Madrid overcame a historic performance from Efes playmaker Thomas Heurtel, who amassed 16 points and set a Euroleague playoffs record with 15 assists. The previous mark was 13, which was set by Theo Papaloukas for Olympiacos against Real Madrid in 2009. The game was a highly entertaining contest that featured numerous runs. Madrid took control early with a 9-0 charge. Efes responded with 14 unanswered points and led 37-45 at halftime. The visitors pushed the difference to 17 in the third quarter, but Madrid rallied to finish the quarter down 3. After Madrid took the lead, Heurtel had 3 assists in a 0-7 push that put Efes up 7. It was 75-82 with a little more than two minutes to go, but Madrid scored the next 11 points to take control and Rodriguez iced the game from the line. Rudy Fernandez added 15 points and 7 assists for the winners, K.C. Rivers scored and Andres Nocioni added 10. Nenad Krstic led the Efes attack with 23 points, Cedi Osman scored 12, Dario Saric added 11 points and 9 rebounds and Stratos Perperoglou also scored 11.