Real Madrid has bounced back from a first round defeat against Virtus Bologna and added a third consecutive victory in EuroLeague, putting them second in the table behind Zalgiris. Wednesday's match against Partizan (93-86) at the Movistar Arena in Madrid was special for the EuroLeague debut for Real Madrid for Theo Maledon.
Maledon, 24 year old French point guard from ASVEL, previously on a four-year run through NBA G League (Oklahoma City Blue) and NBA (Phoenix Suns) was one of the most desired signings for Real Madrid, and after recovering from injury during pre-season, has finally made his Real Madrid debut with success: 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
"It felt great, it felt amazing to play in front of our fans, to start at home. I definitely felt the love that the fans gave us, so I'm really grateful for that", Maledon said.
"I've known Maledon since he was a child because he's my son's age, and they've been on the national team together for many years", said new Real Madrid coach, former Spain coach Sergio Scariolo, to As. "And while I value his physical versatility for the shooting guard role, if there's a pure point guard in modern basketball at his age group, it's Maledon."
Trey Lyles, Canadian-American and another veteran from NBA (Utah, Denver, San Antonio, Detroit and Sacramento) added another 17 points. Madrid had total control of the match, 52-33 in halftime, although the Serbian club managed to reduce the distance to just four in the last quarter.