MIAMI (United States) - The first window of the 2021-22 BCL Americas concluded on Wednesday evening with two games in Groups A and C, including two heavyweights being back in action after a day off.

Most importantly, these two showdowns gave us a pretty strong idea of who the favorites are in each group as we prep for window two at the end of January.

Minas 95-84 Obras Sanitarias

Minas has clearly separated themselves as the favorite in Group C, and it’s no secret as to why. The Brazilian basketball club has an explosive offense that is averaging 95 points through two games in the BCL Americas.

In this game, in particular, there was no surrender out of Minas. They dropped 27 points in the opening quarter and never gave up their lead by pouring on 28 in the third. They drilled 10 3s, shot exactly 60% from 2 and only committed 12 turnovers.

Most importantly, it was a balanced attack for the Brazilian squad. Two players — Tavario Miller and Renan Lenz — scored 20 points and four others scored in double figures.

That doesn’t mean this was a superb effort from Minas across the board, though. They did struggle defensively, including allowing Keith Martin Stone to drop 17 points on 50% shooting. Minas wasn’t able to create turnovers against Obras, which also limited their transition attack.

Obras Sanitarias will need to do a better job on the interior in future windows if they are to battle for the top spot in the group. They allowed 42 points in the paint and got out-rebounded by 16 boards. That’s not good enough against a team that is nearly unstoppable on the offensive end of the floor.

Cangrejeros 91-88 Real Esteli

Puerto Rico’s Cangrejeros opened their BCL Americas stint with an undefeated record after defeating last year’s finalist, Real Esteli.

The Cangrejeros were led by Davon Jefferson (19 points) and Christopher Gaston (14 points). After seeing Angel Rodriguez struggle in their opening game, he was superb on Wednesday evening, dropping 15 points and 9 assists.

Rodriguez’s ability to set the table and help dictate the pace of the game was one of the main differences that helped guide Cangrejeros to their second win. They are now the favorite in Group A after it was originally thought to be Esteli’s group to lead.

De Jesus was on fire, dropping 26 points and six rebounds. However, Javier Mojica struggled and scored just seven points and shot 3-of-10 from the field.

FIBA