Knocked out of the Euroleague

Real Madrid failed to secure victory in the fourth game of the Euroleague playoffs against Olympiacos, forcing a tiebreaker in Athens. Our team was better in the first half, where they could have gone in with a bigger lead if not for the 14 fouls called against them and the 17 points scored by their opponents from the free throw line. In the second half, the Greeks were more accurate and took the win and the series despite a late comeback by our team, who had a three-pointer in the last play to win it.

The last-minute absences of Deck and Ibaka forced Real Madrid to make an extra effort. They came into the game with determination. Solid at the back, with Feliz starting, and closing down the rebound, they were able to run on the counterattack (6 points). They were also patient in static play and accurate in their shooting (3/7 on three-pointers). Hezonja (8 points), Abalde (5 and 4 rebounds), and Bruno Fernando, who came on for Tavares after 6 minutes (4), led a first quarter that ended 21-16 against an Olympiacos side that our team gave little away (Vezenkov 0 points).

Refereeing decisions
The second quarter lacked the rhythm of the first due to continuous stoppages for technical fouls (two for Madrid and one for Olympiacos) and personal fouls, where the referees' decisions favoured the visitors. Madrid maintained their concentration and found the energy and points (11 between them) in the Llull-Hugo González duo to overcome their opponents. The third foul by Tavares (who played nine minutes in the first half) did not affect Madrid either. Hezonja and Musa established the maximum lead for Chus Mateo's team at 45-36. The Whites were far superior to Olympiacos, who were kept in the game by their free throws: they scored 17 out of 19 in the first half, compared to 3 out of 4 for Madrid. Due to this imbalance, our advantage was only 5 points at half-time (47-42).

Less than a minute and a half into the second half, Tavares was back on the bench with 4 fouls. A big blow for Madrid's plans. Olympiacos started to score more easily and with more players to take a 7-point lead. Madrid, lacking the fluidity of the first half, drew on the character shown by Feliz, Llull, and Hezonja to reduce the deficit to 65-68 before entering the decisive quarter.

Madrid did everything to come back and had the winning shot
Papanikolau appeared in the final quarter with three three-pointers to lead a 2-14 run for his team. Madrid found themselves 15 points down with just over six minutes to play (67-82). But they didn't give up. They gave everything and fought tooth and nail in defence. Llull, Campazzo, and Hezonja responded with an 11-0 run that put them four points behind with three and a half minutes to play (78-82). However, they still had to deal with the loss of Tavares for a personal foul on Vezenkov, in which he didn't even move. Olympiacos went ahead by 7 points again at 78-85 in the 38th minute. In the final two minutes, Madrid came close to turning the game around with a 6-1 run. Abalde had a three-pointer in the last play to win and force a fifth game, but he missed and Olympiacos took the win (84-86, min. 40). It's time to turn the page and think about LaLiga, where Madrid hosts Valencia Basket on Sunday (6:30pm CEST).

REAL MADRID-OLYMPIACOS STATISTICS