Real Madrid show muscle against an intermittent Baskonia

Based on labor and teamwork, whites beat Alberto Abalde’s last minute drop, with a standing discomfort. The absence of Galicia further aggravated the problems in the management of the game after the injuries of Carlos Alocén and Nigel Williams-Goss, in addition to the fact that Pablo Laso has not had Thomas Heurtel since March 31.

The startup did not meet expectations. Only Tavares saw the basket from a cold start and grappled with errors in the first four-and-a-half minutes, with only two baskets signed by Cape Verdean centre. The Basconistas relied on free kicks until Rokas Giedraitis finally finished with a counterattack almost halfway through the first act, resulting in a checkmate.

Then it was the turn of the trio. Sergio Llull with three in a row and Rudy Fernández encouraged their team from afar, although, thanks to the quality of their team and some individual moves by Wade Baldwin IV and Steven Enoch, they couldn’t break away from a team from Vitoria that stuck to the airflow and did their best.

As the minutes passed, the match became balanced, and at the end of the first quarter White had a slight advantage with Rudy’s final three pointer. Despite losing in the first ten minutes only a rebound battle (14-6) against an opponent in which Tavares caught the same rebounds as all Baskonia players, Neven Spahija’s men took the first time-out three backs (22-19 , 10 min.).

The game continued with another phase of errors in the shot, interrupted by Rudy’s successful shot from the rim. Real Madrid won by seven points, but Serbian Vanja Marinkovic quickly responded, keeping the team going with a few three-pointers until Baldwin woke up with seven consecutive points in the final minutes of the second half to rebalance the fight. .

Both shot more than two-thirds in the first half and with better percentages. Madrid scored eight points, Rudy and Llull were the most inspiring threes each, and Bitci Baskonia scored seven, three of which were signed by Marinkovic. As the recovery struggle stabilized in the second quarter, semi-final reached the time-out with a single score (44-42, 20th minute).

On reboot, everything changed radically. A 10-0 start resulting in Fabien Causeur’s three-pointer shot the maximum lead for Pablo Laso’s men to twelve. Tavares continued to stir under the baskets and allowed second chances, and after another bad start by his team, Spahija had to stop the game when he saw how his opponent had run and almost three minutes had passed before his players had seen the rim.

Causeur from Hanga and again from the castle worsened the situation after the break and set alarms on the guest bench. He had gone from 42-42 in the final minute of the second quarter to 59-42 in Baskonia’s six minutes. In a 17-0 partial match, a squad that missed the contribution of Baldwin, Fontecchio and Giedraitis took the reins.

To make matters worse for his interests, the Causeur was still unstoppable. The Frenchman was still playing and kept the Vitorians away with fourteen points in seven and a half minutes. At their worst, three-pointers from Peters and Costello reduced the damage these two times, a Bitchy Baskonia returning to the game, although they came into the final quarter with a lot to do to preserve their chances of victory. (74-63, min 30).

The intensity of the match increased. Both teams put another start on the defense and the baskets came in dropsIt was also positive for the locals, who entered the final six minutes with half a game with Jeffery Taylor and Adam Hanga’s three-pointers (85-66, 34 minutes).

The match no longer had a history. Real Madrid slowed and Baskonia scored in the final minutes, when Pablo Laso had the opportunity to spin the bench and shoot young Juan Nuñez and Urban Klavzar. On Saturday, both teams will face each other again in the second round of the series.