Madrid secures an important victory in Istanbul

Real Madrid secured an away victory against Fenerbahce in the penultimate round of the EuroLeague regular season and now depends on itself to achieve home-court advantage in the playoffs. This will be decided in the final round at the Movistar Arena against Red Star (Thursday, 16th at 8:45 pm CEST). Campazzo (15 points and 18 PIR), Tavares (12 and 16), Lyles (10 points in the last quarter for a total of 16), and Hezonja (5 points in the final 3 minutes) were the standout performers for our team, securing a victory full of character and pride.

The game started with a very high physical intensity and a focus on defense. Madrid, which quickly lost Campazzo due to two personal fouls, struggled with defensive rebounds, allowing second chances to a Fenerbahce side with Melli and Horton-Tucker as their main threats. The introduction of the second unit led by Maledon brought freshness to the attack, sustained by outside shooting accuracy (2/3 triples) and 5/5 free throws (21-19, min. 10).

Strong response from Madrid
Fenerbahce made the first big push at the start of the second quarter. Much more aggressive and taking advantage of referee leniency, they took the lead with contributions from Boston Jr. and Baldwin IV (29-21, min. 13). But Madrid quickly responded. They regained defensive intensity and locked down their rebounds. These aspects enabled them to pull ahead and stifled the Turkish team. When attacking, they showed more patience, creating advantages through Tavares' dominance in the paint (top scorer at halftime with 10 points). Deck, with his invaluable work behind the scenes, and two three-pointers from Campazzo, completed a 19-5 run to finish the first half 6 points ahead (34-40).

The game became much scrappier after halftime, with increased physicality that unsettled Madrid. The only way to stop Tavares was with three players surrounding him when he got the ball. Even so, he managed to score from outside in those situations. Two three-pointers from Campazzo (his fourth without a miss) kept Scariolo's side with a 6-point cushion midway through the third quarter. However, that control evaporated in the following minutes. Led by Boston Jr., Fenerbahce put together a 12-3 run to turn the score around by the end of the third quarter (58-54).

Character and pride
With blood (from the arms of Tavares and Lyles), sweat, and defensive effort, the madridistas reactivated themselves. Lyles took the offensive reins and, with 8 consecutive points, tied the game with 5 minutes remaining. Jantunen put his side 3 points ahead with 65-62. Everything was still to be decided. Madrid raised their concentration level and showed their most solid version on both ends of the court. They held Fenerbahce scoreless for over three minutes, and Hezonja took over from Lyles. His 5 points led the decisive run—a 10-1 stretch that brought Madrid closer to victory. Boston Jr. reduced the gap to three with 53 seconds left, but Lyles sealed the win in the next play (69-74, min. 40).

Fenerbahce-Real Madrid Statistics

Disclaimer: Translation generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies.

Disclaimer: Translation generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies.