Real Madrid made it 1-0 in their semifinal series against Bitci Baskonia (94-84), the best of five games, this Thursday at the WiZink Center, a playoff start that broke their tie in favor of the Whites in the second part, with Fabien Causeur and Tavares (12 points and 13 rebounds) as the best.
The Frenchman (16 points and 6 rebounds) led the breakaway in the third quarter and the pivot was dominant in a tough game, without much success, which seems to mark the tie. Pablo Laso's men broke the match and saved the rent to look for 2-0 on Saturday (6pm) again at home. The Basques conceded a 15-0 run after the restart and, despite points from Costello and Peters, they did not come out of the rut.
The night was a bit cold in the Palace, with the air conditioning on full blast, the stands halfway, and both teams getting off to a poor start. After barely 10 points in five minutes, Llull burst in with three three-pointers to liven up the start of the semi-final. The '23' acted as a point guard after Hanga's two fouls.
Without Abalde, who finally did not enter the rotation due to some discomfort, Pablo had to pull Núñez in the second quarter, even more so when Llull left the locker room touching his groin and never came back. The 17-year-old boy did quite well, but he lacked the skill that cost dearly on both teams. Enoch and Marinkovic somewhat dodged that poor aim to keep the Basques.
Madrid had a couple of attempts to escape on the scoreboard, but the moment of inspiration was not followed by good defense. Tavares became strong in the zone that handcuffed Baskonia, but Neven Spahija's men also put together a good defense. Despite the triples by Llull and Rudy Fernández, the Basque team found answers (22-19).
The people on the bench also had a hard time carburizing, leaving a great Núñez image, although he could not sign it with baskets. The whites lacked rhythm, while the azulgranas pulled on Baldwin due to Granger's lack of prominence. The battle was even at half-time (44-42), with an exchange of easy points that took away the feeling of a game of good defenses.
Nor was it one of great attacks, but Madrid returned with the initial plan and this time they did enter. Laso's men went on a 15-0 run in the second half and Baskonia did not give up but did lose a lot of the faith they brought from Vitoria. Causeur, 14 points in the third quarter, started the breakaway and kept it going when Peters and Costello woke up the Basques.
The visitor's reaction made them reach the last quarter alive (74-63), but there was no continuation. Madrid continued with their foot on the accelerator and in five minutes they passed the income score of twenty (89-68). After their 2-0 defeat of BAXI Manresa, Madrid did not confuse their path to the title, despite their problem in the base rotation with Williams-Goss injured in the Euroleague semis and now pending Llull, although he does not point to anything serious . Meanwhile, the Basques will have to improve so as not to return to Vitoria on the ropes.
