Real Madrid Baloncesto overpowered Red Star Belgrade 103-82 in the final matchday of the regular EuroLeague season to secure home-court advantage for the playoff stage of the competition.
Victory for Sergio Scariolo’s side was their fourteenth consecutive EuroLeague success at the Movistar Arena, and ensured that they recorded their best ever regular season at home in the competition. Indeed, Los Blancos have concluded the league phase by defeating 18 of the 19 sides that they have welcomed to Madrid, with a loss to Panathinaikos the only exception.
Despite having been victorious in six of their last seven matchups against the Serbian outfit, Madrid lost the most recent encounter between the two sides as they fell to a 90-75 defeat in Belgrade earlier in the season, and Red Star were looking for two successive victories in the competition against the hosts for the first time since 2016.
Sasa Obradovic’s men already knew ahead of their trip to Spain that they were assured of a play-in qualification spot for the playoff round, as they found themselves in 7th position in the league standings, but were nevertheless seeking a victory that would ensure a home tie for the play-ins.
Fuelled by this incentive, the visitors led for much of the opening quarter, driven on by several scores from Jordan Nwora. The Nigerian possessed an average points per game haul of 17.2 coming into the final matchday of the regular season, the sixth-highest of any player in the competition, and enjoyed a lively start at the Movistar Arena as he accumulated 11 points during the first 10 minutes.
However, a run of 8 unanswered points for Scariolo’s side in the closing stages of the quarter flipped the game on its head, as Los Merengues headed into the first interval with a narrow 27-25 advantage.
The hosts stretched this lead in the early stages of the second quarter, as they ruthlessly punished Red Star for several sloppy mistakes in transition. Despite their strong start, the Serbians also began to heavily struggle in front of the basket, as they converted only 4 of their 13 attempts at two-pointers during the quarter, as well as 25% of their three-pointer efforts. In comparison, Madrid made 8 of their 12 two-pointers during the quarter, and also scored 50% of their shots from downtown, which saw them enter half-time leading 56-44.
Despite shooting just 6 of 16 from inside the arc during the third quarter as their attacking struggles continued, Red Star nevertheless threatened to eliminate Madrid’s lead after half-time. A 9-point haul from power forward Chima Moneke, the player with the fifth highest PIR of any individual in the competition heading into the gameweek, helped to narrow the Serbs’ deficit to only 7 points with 29 minutes on the clock. However, yet another Madrid rally late in the quarter, rounded off by a spectacular ‘mandarina’ from Sergio Llull at the buzzer, left the home side with a commanding 77-63 lead with 10 minutes left to play.
With the Movistar Arena crowd in full voice, and in front of the watchful eyes of sporting legends Luka Doncic and Novak Djokovic, Los Blancos refused to rest on their laurels and further extended their lead in the closing stages. Mario Hezonja scored 8 points in the final quarter alone, as the Croat took his total tally to 19, while MVP Facundo Campazzo contributed 16 points of his own across the match, ensuring a comfortable 21-point victory for Madrid.
The result takes the Spaniards up to 2nd provisionally in the league standings, although they could slip down to 3rd if Valencia Basket triumph over Dubai Basketball tomorrow evening, and must now await to discover their playoff opponent.
Meanwhile, although they are already assured of a play-in spot, Obradovic’s squad risk dropping down to as far as 10th in the table if results go against them, which would leave them needing to win two successive matches just in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Referees: Borys Rhyzhk (Ukraine), Jakub Zamojski (Poland), Rain Peerandi (Estonia)
Real Madrid Roster: Lyles; Abalde; Campazzo; Okeke; Hezonja; Maledon; Deck; Garuba; Tavares; Llull; Feliz; Len
Red Star Belgrade Roster: Miller-McIntyre; Miljenovic; Butler; Carter; Kalinic; Dobric; Rivero; Izundu; Bolomboy; Nwora; Ojeleye; Moneke