Campazzo inspires Madrid to fifth league win

Real Madrid returned to the WiZink Center after two weeks away and kicked off the run of five home games in 11 days in the best possible way. The Whites defeated Dreamland Gran Canaria in a very tight game, despite their opponents' three-point accuracy and a spectacular Campazzo, who scored 14 of his 20 points in the last quarter. The Argentinian point guard completed a decisive performance with 9 assists and 33 in PIR. Abalde was also instrumental with 16 points and 20 in PIR.
 
Real Madrid marked their 1,700th game in the league with a hard-fought victory in front of their fans. Gran Canaria began very strongly, dominating the rebounding and applying pressure with the Brussino-Tobey pairing (9 points between them) to achieve a 2-9 run (6-13; min. 5). The Whites tweaked their defence and started to stretch the court through Campazzo. Hezonja and Tavares, with 6 points, contributed in attack (11-3) to take the score to 17-16 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Parity in the second quarter
The teams were evenly matched and the pace slowed at times. The Canary islanders were very organised in attack, while Chus Mateo‘s troops were doing some damage by forcing fouls from their opponents through quick transitions with Deck and Abalde (26-26, minute 15). The last two minutes were a continuous exchange of punches. The visitors from the outside shooting and the hosts took advantage of the firepower under the hoop of Ibaka (9 points) and under the guidance of Campazzo (5 assists). Eventually, the score swung in Madrd's favour with a close 39-36 scoreline.
 

The equality continued after the break. Madrid improved in rebounding and brought in extra energy, but they came up against the inspired efforts of Brussino and Thomasson (47-47; min. 26). That's when Chus Mateo’s team started to hit the three-pointers that they hadn't managed to score in the first half, courtesy of some good moments from Hezonja and Rathan-Mayes, which sparked an 8-0 run. Again, Gran Canaria rallied, but the Whites stayed up by 5 points (59-54).
 
A decisive Campazzo settles the clash
The clash at the WiZink would be resolved in the last 10 minutes. The visitors made the better start. After a 2-9 run, Chus Mateo called a time-out and Madrid hit back through Campazzo and Deck to make it 69-63 (min. 34). The visitors’ riposte soon followed and another flurry of points brought them to within two points (37’). However, the game went Madrid's way, mainly due to the inspired play of Campazzo. The Argentine, with 14 points in the fourth quarter, grabbed the reins when the team needed it most and secured the team's fifth win in the league to maintain their unbeaten run at home.
 
STATISTICS FROM REAL MADRID-DREAMLAND GRAN CANARIA