Defeat in Gran Canaria

Real Madrid fell short of a win at Dreamland Gran Canaria, with the game becoming an uphill battle in the first half. The visitors trailed for the majority of the clash owing to the hosts' clinical edge up top. Our team were without Hezonja and Yabusele, as well as Llull and Tavares. Despite the defeat, we remain top of the League for another week and the next seven days bring three home games; the first, against Maccabi on Tuesday (8:30pm CET).

The leaders arrived in Gran Canaria with 10 players, as a result of the four injuries and the absence of the juniors who were involved in the qualification phase of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament. They struggled in offense early on, with Gran Canaria taking advantage thanks to an aggressive defense and controlling the offensive rebound to wrest the initiative in the opening period (25-9).

Improvement up top
Our boys began to find some attacking rhythm thanks to Campazzo and Sergio Rodríguez. The Canary Islands-born point guard brought freshness to the five, posting points from three and linking up with Poirier, who was now getting the better of his rivals (5 offensive rebounds). The duo took up the mantle for our team in offense (10 and 8 respectively). The biggest issue was the hosts' confidence, and their impressive shooting numbers, particularly from distance, continued to prove a problem throughout the first half, as they raced to +25.  Madrid reacted before the break with triples by Deck and Campazzo to cut the gap to 57-36.

Madrid push but fall short
The league leaders had upped their game in offense, but continued to struggle in defense. Everything was going in for Gran Canaria, with Happ and Shurna enjoying an outstanding spell to open up a 25-point gap once more with 26 minutes gone. Madrid needed to respond and despite facing an uphill battle, they weren't about to give up. Driven on by Rudy, they enjoyed a 10-0 run that saw them take the third quarter (78-60). But Lakovic's boys continued their precision in the closing stages to take the win (100-77, min.). Now our boys face a return to three-game weeks, with a EuroLeague double header (Maccabi on Tuesday and ASVEL on Thursday) plus a league fixture (Bàsquet Girona on Sunday).

DREAMLAND GRAN CANARIA-REAL MADRID STATISTICS