Real Madrid loses in Valencia

Real Madrid failed to win on their visit to Valencia Basket and will play their last game of the regular league season on Sunday looking to clinch top spot in the standings. After Unicaja's win at the Palau, our team has to beat Baskonia at the WiZink Center (6:30pm CEST) and hope for a defeat for the Malagueños. The game, which was very intense on a of a very high physical level, came down to the final minutes, where the Taronjas decided from three-point range. Tavares, with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 21 PIR, was the team's most outstanding player. Llull played his 600th ACB game in a Madrid jersey.

The game was always going to be extremely demanding on a physical level. Because of the muscle that Valencia Basket put in at the start, with Anderson playing the two and Ojeleye playing the three, and because of the frenetic pace they set from the start. Madrid were in control at the start, with the Campazzo-Tavares duo. The centre dominated the zone with his rebounds and showed off his recent nomination as best defender with two blocks in the same play. But the home side's intensity, pressing the passing lanes, and their success in the three-pointer (5/5), gave them the lead in the following minutes. Five points was the maximum advantage for both teams in this first quarter. At 15-10 and after a setback, Llull got our team going on the perimeter with two three-pointers and made a brilliant start in his 600th game. Deck scored another two to counteract the work of Jones and Inglis (28-27, min.10).

Concentration to counter the home side's drive
The physical battle increased in the second quarter, now focused on defence. What did not change was the dynamic of the game. Neither side was able to impose its game and the score fluctuated constantly. First, in Madrid's favour thanks to Poirier's good work on the offensive rebound and the outside success of Rudy (2 three-pointers) and Abalde (another); and then, with Valencia Basket continuing to put a lot of muscle into their actions with Jones, Ojeleye and company. But our team maintained their game plan with great focus. Their great final minute, in which they went on a 0-6 run with three-pointers from Sergio
Rodríguez and Hezonja stepping up, made it possible to win the quarter and take a two-point lead into half-time (45-47).
Madrid had to fight against a Valencia Basket team that was very intense in its play and very accurate from three-point range. And it did so by being patient and using their heads. In the two moments when they struggled the most in the third quarter, Hezonja and Musa appeared with ponit scoring spurts to level the scoreboard again before going into the final stretch (75-72, min.30).

The difference was in the three-pointer
With the game level at 78 in the 33rd minute and after Deck limped off after a fortuitous collision with Yabusele, the Taronjas made the difference from beyond the 6.75m line. They were especially accurate with Jones and Anderson as the main characters and a 15/21. Despite this, we kept fighting and with 89-87 with two minutes to go we had several shots to make the comeback. They didn't go in, but our opponents' attempts did, and they ended up taking the win by six points (99-93, min.40).

VALENCIA BASKET-REAL MADRID STATISTICS