There are days in WiZink when Real Madrid cannot find itself, although that does not mean anything, because even on those occasions, Chus Mateo’s team is a steamroller (86-79). He allows, like last night, his rival, in this case Asvel, from the suburbs of Lyon, to get their hopes up and then deploy all their artillery, or part of it, because Tavares is still in the stands. The French team managed to get close to Madrid’s first attempt to break away, but it was enough for Alocén and Rudy to do their best in defense for their team to expand the bandwidth.
There is the white team, like the others, with many consecutive games in their legs, and that shows in the performance, but there is always the quality of the team against rivals like the one last night, enthusiastic, but who are maintained precisely thanks to those desire, which sometimes is not enough.
What happened in the first quarter was repeated several times throughout the game. Also after Madrid had to run for a while to put themselves 15 ahead (50-35). The score stretched and shrank because the whites took a break, but Yabusele got off the stationary bike where he relaxed his muscles, or became serious after some laughter with his teammates on the bench, and increased the distance again. The Frenchman, who did everything, made the difference against his compatriots. He scored three, two; also the 11 free throws he attempted. He rebounded, stole and counterpunched to be the best of the game. And when he took a break, Campazzo would appear and mess up; or Sergio Rodríguez took command, with his natural elegance on the court and revolutionized the game. The sometimes anarchic Deck also contributed. This was the case throughout the game, despite the final sloppiness, which allowed the final lead to only be seven points, because Paris Lee insisted that his team also had things to say.
Baskonia, 92 – Maccabi, 82
Baskonia also won in Buesa against Maccabi (92-82) after a very competitive match, and in which they appeared with the absences of Chiozza, Costello, Diop and Sedekerskis. But there was Howard, who finished with 26 points, and also Marinkovic (14) and Moneke (15), who beat the rebounding team in the Euroleague. Moneke was imperial in that aspect (15), and Kotsar was not far behind (9). In reality, it was a choral effort that was appreciated by the Buesa Arena stands, who were not sure if his team was going to keep up with so many casualties. But he did it, although Moneke and Kotsar had to play almost 37 minutes each, and Marinkovic, increasingly consolidated, exceeded 29. Baskonia subdued Maccabi, whose average particular, despite the efforts of former Baskonista Baldwin (25 points), who is exposed to a penalty for throwing the ball at one of the referees at the end of the game and then confronting him, despite the efforts of his teammates to get him out of the way .
Alba Berlin, 66 – Valencia Basket, 81
Valencia Basket took a walk through the Alba Berlin field (66-81). Mumbrú’s men did not forgive the red lantern of the regular phase and played one of their most relaxed games in recent weeks. With great work on defense, they held Alba to 15 points in each of the first three quarters, which made it easier for his offensive work to be rewarded. The work of López-Arostegui from Getxo was shining on the court in the decisive moments, such as that of Ojeleye in the shot (18 points).