Madrid take the lead in playoff series with Baskonia

Real Madrid came out on top against Baskonia in the opening game of their Endesa League quarter-final playoff series, and will travel to Vitoria on Friday with the chance of sealing a semifinal spot. Our team made the most of their home-court advantage, breaking their record for successive home wins in the competition and racking up their 27th so far. Victory eventually came in an evenly-matched clash, decided by Madrid's impressive third quarter. Tavares put on an incredible display (16 points, 13 rebounds and a PIR of 35) as the standout performer, while 6 players posted between 9 and 16 points.

The series got underway with both teams showing notable defensive intensity, coupled with some sloppiness in offense (6 turnovers each). Despite a low-scoring initial period, Madrid took an 8-1 run to finish in the lead. Abalde (5 points and 2 assists) and Bruno Fernando (4 and 3 rebounds in 3 minutes) carried the offensive mantle against a Baskonia side who shared their points around (15-14, min. 10).

Tight affair 
The offensive flow improved in the second quarter, as Howard (7 points) and Samanic (another 7) gave the visitors a lead of 6 or 7 points at different moments. Madrid were able to neutralise them as Campazzo and Tavares stepped to the fore. The duo began to dominate in their respective positions on court, with the point guard forcing penetrations that led to baskets or personal fouls, and the center showing his superiority under the hoop to close the first half with 10 points, 6 rebounds and a PIR of 17 (37-38, min. 20).

The same dynamic continued for a large part of the third quarter, and Madrid didn't look comfortable. They struggled for range from three, while turnovers were giving Baskonia easy baskets and their forwards managed to maintain the slight advantage (7 points for Luwawu-Cabarrot). What's more, five minutes after the restart, they were in bonus for personal fouls. But that's when things took a drastic turn. At 42-48, the madridistas finally found their game, based on a solid defense, closing out the rebound and finding their range from three. Feliz, Llull and Hugo González fired our boys into the lead, taking control of the clash for the next five minutes to build up an 8-point lead heading into the final period (59-51, min. 30).

Madrid stay solid in quarter four
Our boys had done the hard part and resolved some of the issues in their approach to turn the game around. Another Feliz triple made it +11 to Chus Mateo's team, but as the they looked to kill the game too quickly, Baskonia nearly made them pay. A host of rushed moves breathed life back into the visitors, who came to 72-68 with 37 on the clock. The reaction was there though, with a couple of vital three-pointers from Campazzo and Abalde. Tavares capped off a hard-fought win with another sublime performance (PIR of 35) to make it 1-0 in the series (82-76, min. 40).

REAL MADRID-BASKONIA STATISTICS