A fantastic offensive display takes us to within one win of the Euroleague Final Four

Real Madrid are on the verge of the EuroLeague Final Four after beating Baskonia in the second game at the WiZink Center to take a 2-0 lead in the playoffs before the tie moves to the Buesa Arena (Wednesday, 1 May, at 8:30pm CEST).

Chus Mateo's team once again showed their strength as a team (Campazzo, with 33 PIR, led six players in double figures in scoring) and their superiority in the paint (between Tavares, Poirier and Yabusele, 59 PIR) to counteract an opponent that had great success in the triple but could only hold on for 24 minutes. Because our team is very hungry and with an exhibition of basketball in the following nine minutes, supported once again by a spectacular WiZink Center, they settled the game to seal their best ever number of wins in a season (29) and travel to Vitoria with the option of sealing their ticket to Berlin.

With the emotional tribute to Llull from the WiZink Center for becoming the top three-pointer in the Euroleague on Tuesday, which president Florentino Pérez crowned by presenting him with a jersey commemorating the record, the second round got underway. And what a start it was.

The pace was very high in a battle between different styles of play. Madrid, dominating both ends of the court with an imposing Tavares (4 points and 2 blocks), a hyperactive Campazzo (7 points) and Hezonja showing his class (another 7), against a Baskonia with a tight focus (5/8 in three pointers) and looking for speed in their actions to surprise us. It was Llull, the king of the three-pointer, who broke the deadlock in the first 10 minutes with one of his own at the buzzer (23-21).

Madrid on top of their game
Baskonia was true to its style and today everything was going in from behind the three-point line. Thirty of their 40 points at half-time came from outside the 'D'. Under normal conditions, they would have gone ahead. But Real Madrid were in front of them. Our team raised the physical bar with Deck and Poirier. The centre put in an immense performance, chasing his opponents away from the zone and being forceful in front of the rim.

He made 4 blocks, grabbed 6 rebounds (4 offensive) and lifted the WiZink with two dunks. Llull was still at his best and with two more three-pointers he increased the lead to 10 points, which would be reduced to 6 at the end of the first half after an upsurge by the visitors (46-40).

The game continued to be a tug-of-war in the second half, but always with Madrid defending a small lead against a Baskonia side that stayed in it thanks to its success in three-pointers and some Sedekerskis transitions (58-54, min.26). However, Chus Mateo's team were feeling very strong in attack and this was corroborated in the following minutes. Quite simply, they were a basketball machine. Everything flowed perfectly under the guidance of Campazzo. The Argentine gave a recital in the third quarter scoring 8 points, assisting his teammates (4) and, above all, dominating the game to perfection. Madrid brought out their strength as a team. Yabusele was a torment for his marker with a repertoire of dunks and three-pointers (14 points this quarter) and Tavares picking up everything that Baskonia missed.

Nine colossal minutes
Madrid subjected Baskonia to a hellish pace. Our team were flying at the WiZink Center. They continued with the run at the start of the final quarter, joined by Deck and Sergio Rodríguez. A three-pointer from them culminated a 27-11 run and broke the game open (85-63). Baskonia made up some of the deficit in the final stretch but there was little to worry about as Madrid literally gave their all despite having the game in the bag. An action between Campazzo and Rudy with 22 seconds left, where they tried to win the ball back by throwing themselves at the ball up to three times, reflects the attitude and commitment of the European champions, who today surpassed 100 points with an offensive display (101-90, min.40).

REAL MADRID-BASKONIA STATISTICS