Real Madrid

Real Madrid were unable to repeat their success against Gescrap Bizkaia in their Endesa League clash on Sunday. Llull was their best man with 18 points.

Katsikaris used Hervelle and Banic in his starting lineup to play a more aggressive game in defence. Real Madrid couldn't find a way through and found it difficult to play a static offence. The visitors snatched the lead thanks to two doutbful personal fouls against Mirotic and solid three-pointers from Vasiliadis and Jackson (11-19, 9').

Carroll and Reyes stepped up the Whites' game. A 2+1 from the American shooting guard woke up the team, which had an 11-0 run with a Pocius three-pointer and five points by Llull (22-19, 12'). Their defence also improved and stopped Banic's mobility thanks to Begic's great efforts under the iron. Vasiliadis kept Bilbao in the game with two three-pointers (15 points), but Real snatched more rebounds in defence and Llull led them in solid counterattacks (36-35, 20').

The game became wild after half-time, with both teams focused more on attacking. The visitors took the initiative after a back-and-forth of points. Jackson pulled rank and Banic led Bilbao with 21 points to snatch a 12-point cushion (46-54, 26'). Laso was forced to ask for time-out and told his men to pressurise all over the court, with which Real had a 9-0 run sealed by a Llull 2+1 (59-60, 30').

The game didn't change in the final quarter. Real Madrid netted two three-pointers through Pocius and Bilbao replied with another two. Defence took a step back and Bilbao handled the final minutes better than the locals. Real never gave up and came back to being just three points behind (80-83), but a Mumbru three-pointer and another by Jackson on the buzzer snatched a win for Gescrap (90-93).