Real Madrid survived a fourth-quarter fightback from Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz to emerge 94-87 victors on matchday 15 of the EuroLeague season at the Movistar Arena.
In their first game back at home in twenty days, Sergio Scariolo’s side claimed their seventh successive win in all competitions, as well as their fourth consecutive triumph in the EuroLeague.
Madrid simultaneously extended their impressive recent record against the Basque outfit, but it was far from a simple victory for Los Blancos who had to display plenty of grit and determination to make it five wins from the last six meetings in all competitions between the two sides.
During a competitive opening two quarters, it was the hosts who found themselves marginally ahead with a 42-39 advantage. Despite the two-pointer success rate for Paolo Galbiati’s men being significantly higher than their opponents by the half-way stage (68% to Madrid’s 50%), it was the visitors’ ill-discipline and sloppiness in defence which cost them dearly. Los Blancos restricted Baskonia to a measly two free-throw opportunities during the first 20 minutes, only one of which was converted. Madrid, meanwhile, successfully netted an impressive 16 of their 18 foul shot attempts (88%), heavily outperforming their season average of 76%.
The home side, led by Mario Hezonja and the instrumental Facundo Campazzo, stretched their legs in the third-quarter and, by its conclusion, had established a commanding 71-60 advantage. Hezonja, who had been in electric form coming into this contest having accumulated the most points of any player on the court in Madrid’s two most recent EuroLeague triumphs against Hapoel Tel Aviv and Anadolu Efes, had been unusually ineffective during the opening half. However, the Croat demonstrated his qualities during an electric third-quarter in which he accumulated 9 points. He was helped by Campazzo who, as well as scoring five points of his own, assisted another three scores during the third period to seemingly take the game out of Baskonia’s reach.
With the odds stacked against them, Baskonia came roaring back and were inspired by some moments of brilliance from Markus Howard and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. The American, who eventually finished on 22 points, scored 16 of those in the final quarter and made several spectacular three-pointers, while French guard Luwawu-Cabarrot maintained his impressive record as the EuroLeague’s second highest points-scorer by contributing 20 of his own. The game flipped on its head and looked to have completely slipped away from Madrid, as the visitors charged into a 77-76 lead midway through the final quarter to set up a nail-biting finale.
Madridistas inside the Movistar Arena roared their side on, eager to avoid a repeat of the previous meeting between the two sides in October which had seen Baskonia emerge 105-100 victors, despite trailing by 20 points at one stage. Fuelled by the chants and roars of the home crowd, Madrid prevented history from repeating itself and, with Player of the Match Campazzo leading by example, the hosts scored 11 unanswered points to claim a 94-87 win.
Madrid head coach Scariolo was quick to credit the Basque side for their resilience and quality in his post-match press conference, but his opposite number Galbiati was left to rue a missed opportunity for his side, attributing their eventual defeat to a lacklustre first-half performance which saw them lose too many competitive 50-50 balls.
The result improves the home side’s record in the competition to 9-6 and promotes them up to 9th in the standings, cementing their label as serious contenders for qualification through to the playoffs at the end of the season. Baskonia, in contrast, are left languishing down in 17th in the table, with a record of 5-10 and still await their first victory away from home in the EuroLeague so far this term.
Madrid have an opportunity to record their fifth consecutive EuroLeague victory and make a charge for the top-six spots which grant automatic qualification into the playoffs when they travel to 11th-placed EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on matchday 16, while Baskonia welcome one of Madrid’s main competitors for the top-six, AS Monaco, to the Buesa Arena.
Referees: Sasa Pukl (Slovenia), Olegs Latisevs (Latvia) and Tomasz Trawicki (Poland)
Real Madrid Roster: Lyles; Abalde; Campazzo; Okeke; Hezonja; Maledon; Deck; Garuba; Tavares; Llull; Feliz Kosner Baskonia Roster: Howard; Diakite; Simmons; Nowell; Kurucs; Luwawu-Cabarrot; Spagnolo; Forrest; Radzevicius; Diop; Frisch