Real Madrid took a big step forwards in its race to reach the home court advantage in the upcoming Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoffs by topping Zalgiris Kaunas 88-81 in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Madrid improved to 17-11 in the standings and Zalgiris dropped to 16-10. Despite its loss, Zalgiris qualified to the playoffs for the first time since this phase returned to the competition in 2005.