League leaders beat Coviran Granada at the WiZink Center

Real Madrid will head into the final weekend of Regular Season games as league leaders (they face Valencia Basket on Friday and Baskonia on Sunday), with clinching top spot still in their own hands. Today at the WiZink Center, they picked up their 27th win against Coviran Granada, once again showing their strength as a unit with seven players hitting +10 PIR (Tavares, 26) and point scoring (Musa and Abalde, 14), following a +20 over the opening three quarters.

A 5-0 run from the start saw the team go in front, where they remained for the rest of the period, albeit only ever by a few points. They proved more incisive up top than at the back, with Campazzo directing proceedings (5 assists) while Musa (5 points) and an omnipresent Tavares (8, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks) dominating the offense. But Coviran Granada were aggressive around the hoop and enjoyed a purple patch on the rebound to stay in contention. Cheatham and Felicio made sure the madridistas wouldn't run away with it in the opening 10 minutes (22-19).

Madrid set the pace
It wasn't long until the home team's first real onslaught. Three successive threes from Yabusele, Abalde and Causeur put Madrid seven up. The visitors then swiftly hit back through Rousselle and some fine minutes from Dime, the center. But Chus Mateo's boys did manage to sort out their problems on the defensive rebound, rising to match their opponents' intensity. In four minutes between 14’ and 17’, we stretched our advantage once again to beyond 10 points with a 16-5 run. Llull and Poirier each got 7, Hezonja 5, and Abalde simply couldn't miss. But it was Causeur who was the real driving force in the quarter, with everything he touched going just right: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls drawn (51-42, min.30).

Madrid couldn't relax though, especially given they were up against a team fighting to avoid relegation. The continued with their offensive consistency, scoring with ease thanks to another line of troops including Musa, backed up by Abalde. They also tightened things up in defense, becoming far more aggressive and allowing Coviran Granada barely any chances. The third quarter really broke the opposition resistance, setting the madridistas on the path to victory with a 20-point advantage as Tavares continued to look dominant, edging towards a double-double. Ndiaye also joined in the fun in offense, on the way to his best performance to date (77-57, min. 30).

A true team victory
Coviran Granada went for broke in the closing stages and did manage to cut the deficit, but Madrid cut them off when necessary. First, Llull stepped up, before Hezonja, then Ndiaye joined him (the latter equalled his best madridista display with 16 PIR) and then Poirier. All manner of names were causing problems, a reflection of the strength in depth of the league leaders who finished with Musa, Abalde (14 points), Ndiaye (13), Poirier (11), Llull, Hezonja and Tavares (10), all in double digits for PIR and points. They were even able to rest Deck (available but didn't play), Sergio Rodríguez and Rudy. After the impressive qualification for the EuroLeague Final Four in Vitoria on Wednesday, Real Madrid close out a hugely productive week (94-80, min.40).

REAL MADRID-COVIRAN GRANADA STATISTICS