Hapoel Holds Off Real Madrid in Sofia

Hapoel Tel Aviv beat Real Madrid 102⁠–⁠98 on Thursday, 1 October, in Sofia, Bulgaria — Hapoel’s designated EuroLeague home for the night — in Round 3, leaving Madrid 0⁠–⁠3 for the first time in club EuroLeague history (Eurohoops; Real Madrid; BasketNews). Elijah Bryant had 22 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists; Vasilije Micic also scored 22, with Zach LeDay and Bruno Caboclo on 15 each (Real Madrid box; Eurohoops). Hapoel led by 22 early in the third quarter before Madrid ran off 19 straight points and briefly took the lead; Bryant closed the game in the fourth (Eurohoops; Real Madrid). Theo Maledon led Madrid with 26 points, five rebounds and seven assists; Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 21, and Walter Tavares had 14 points and 13 rebounds (Real Madrid). Tip was 18:00 CEST (12:00 p.m. ET).

The EuroLeague is Europe’s top club basketball league. A designated home is a neutral or relocated venue a club uses when it cannot stage the game in its usual city; Sofia hosted Hapoel for this Round 3 date (Eurohoops; BasketNews). A double-double is reaching double figures in two statistical categories — points and rebounds for Bryant and Tavares — and a near triple-double adds a third category close to 10, here Bryant’s 7 assists (Eurohoops). Performance index rating, or PIR, is the EuroLeague’s efficiency composite; both Bryant and Maledon finished at PIR 40 on the night (Basketball Sphere; Real Madrid).

Real Madrid’s own match report described two distinct phases: trailing by 22 at the start of the third quarter, then leading by 1 eight minutes later, before Hapoel proved more accurate down the stretch (Real Madrid). LeDay’s basket made it 67⁠–⁠45 early in the third — the 22-point cushion Eurohoops and Basketball Sphere also cite — and that score marked the turning point. Madrid answered with an unyielding defense and Tavares as the central figure in the paint, while Maledon, Smith Jr. and Luwawu-Cabarrot unleashed the offensive storm. Luwawu-Cabarrot hit three triples to fuel a 19⁠–⁠0 run in just over three minutes that pulled Madrid within three at 67⁠–⁠64, then a fourth triple completed the comeback at 74⁠–⁠75; the third quarter ended 32⁠–⁠12 for Madrid (Real Madrid; Basketball Sphere).

Hapoel regained the lead at the start of the fourth and kept Madrid from scoring a field goal for nearly five minutes as Micic and Caboclo stretched the cushion from beyond the arc. Madrid made one last push behind Maledon’s best night as a madridista — 26 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, PIR 40 — but the offense was less fluid than in the third, and Bryant sealed the 102⁠–⁠98 final (Real Madrid; Eurohoops). Basketball Sphere called Bryant completely in control from the opening minutes, filling scoring, rebounding and playmaking columns before halftime, then taking over again in the decisive stretch around the rim and at the free-throw line with just one turnover in 32 minutes (Basketball Sphere).

Eurohoops and BasketNews both report that an 0⁠–⁠3 open is a first in Real Madrid’s EuroLeague history; Real Madrid’s official report does not itself assert the historic claim, but multiple independent outlets do (Eurohoops; BasketNews). Hapoel improved to 2⁠–⁠1 with the win, Bryant nearly matching a triple-double for a second outstanding night in the young season (Eurohoops). Caboclo’s night included a perfect stretch from three — Eurohoops noted 5 of 5 from beyond the arc — while LeDay’s 15 and Micic’s 22 kept the Israeli side’s offense humming even after Madrid’s surge (Eurohoops; Real Madrid).

Thursday’s Sofia result leaves Madrid looking for its first win of the EuroLeague campaign after three consecutive away games to open the season. The Spanish club wraps its week with a domestic League visit to Monbus Obradoiro on Sunday, while Hapoel carries a signature early-season victory over one of the competition’s historic powers (Real Madrid; Eurohoops).