The veteran Spaniard had a big night in Berlin, both in terms of EuroLeague history and in helping Los Blancos beat ALBA
Sergio Llull marked historic occasion with vintage performance
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Thursday night in the German capital was a special occasion for Sergio Llull. The Real Madrid legend, a three-time champion and former Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP, made his 425th appearance in the competition, tying Kyle Hines for the most all-time.
But, in his team's 69-80 win over ALBA Berlin, the 37-year-old Llull was also Real's best player, leading the team to its third straight win. He finished with a game-high 20 points, shooting 5-of-9 from three-point land.
It was Llull's first game in which he scored at least 20 points in more than two years, and the first time he knocked down 5 triples since Round 4 of last season.
"Today I came in the game and I was successful," Llull said after the game. "I was able to help the team in that aspect, but I always try to play at 100% to help in whatever way."
All the humbleness aside, there was running away from the fact Llull caught up with Hines for a major EuroLeague milestone, a record that will be his and only his next week when he enters the game at home against FC Bayern Munich.
"It is a special record", Llull admitted. "Being up there in games played means that you have been at the highest level in the EuroLeague for many years."
Llull, again, tried to credit other factors that influenced his own personal success.
"The record is a consequence of being in the best club in the world for so many years. In the end, you play a lot of games. It's an honor to equal Kyle Hines, a player who is also a legend of the EuroLeague."
But the big night was definitely made even bigger by Llull's performance. He had a vintage performance, netting 4 three-pointers late in the first and early in the second quarter, including one four-point play and scoring 13 points in a span of less than 5 minutes, as he led Real in building a 17-point lead.
The rest of Llull's points came in the second half. With ALBA closing within 49-57, he drove for an important layup. In the fourth, when ALBA came within 6 points, Llull knocked down his fifth triple to make it 55-64 and then had another driving layup to open a 57-66 lead.
After that, Mario Hezonja took over, scoring 8 straight points as Los Blancos pulled away for good and registered their third straight win to get their record to 9-9.
"We are taking [steps forward]. I think we have to be a little patient also in the sense that we have given away many games in that last quarter. We have lost games by 1 point, several of them, quite cruel. Seeing the ones we have won, we would be talking about being in the playoffs, even among the top four teams in such an even EuroLeague. But, I think the team is doing well and it is important to continue along this path", Llull concluded after his historic night.