66-78: Madrid reach EuroLeague final!

Absolutely nothing is impossible for Real Madrid, who proved this once again this evening at the Zalgirio Arena as the side produced another sublime display. Without three of their most valuable players Deck, Yabusele and Poirier, the Whites edged Barcelona in the EuroLeague semi-finals, just as they did last season and in 2013 and 2014, and will now be going into their sixth final in the last 10 years, their twentieth in total in this competition. This was a Clasico where Chus Mateo's charges had to contend with Barça's impressive three-point shooting, which made things extremely challenging for them. However, the team kept its nerve during those tricky moments and then delivered the knockout blow with a tremendous second half. Tavares, who was phenomenal throughout the game 20 points, 14 rebounds and 37 in PIR and a pivotal Sergio Rodríguez in the final stretch with 9 points in a row out of his 12, were the stars of the triumph. Hezonja 14, 9 and 18 and Williams-Goss 10 points also excelled. The Whites will face Olympiacos, who beat Monaco, in the final on Sunday at 7pm CET.

Madrid got off to a stronger start, and did a lot of things well in the first quarter. Their defence and rebounding prowess was clear to see, with Tavares running the show 10 points, 6 rebounds and 18 in PIR and solid defensive work by Hanga and Eli on Laprovittola and Mirotic, respectively zero points between them, which put Madrid in control in the first few minutes with a seven-point cushion. Barça had to resort to shooting from the outside, and did so with considerable success. They hit six triples three by Abrines to bring the score level at 18 at the end of the opening quarter.

Stubborn Madrid
The Catalans edged ahead in the second quarter and built up a nine-point lead in the 19th minute, largely as a result of their outstanding efforts from Jokubaitis, Kuric and Satoransky from three-point range 9/14. Chus Mateo's troops fought off their opponents' streak with plenty of patience, with Randolph doing the business close to the hoop 6 points and with several superb plays from Hezonja. Llull struck a three-pointer to bring Madrid to within six points before the break 42-36.