Convincing victory for Madrid in Murcia.

Real Madrid picked up their fourth league win of the season after beating UCAM Murcia on the road in round six. Chus Mateo's men made up for their five absentees (Feliz, Garuba, Musa, Ibaka and Rathan-Mayes, the latter due to paternity) with a solid performance, excelling in defence, rebounding and being sharp in attack. Hezonja, who was superb in the third quarter, with 16 of his 21 points and 4 three-pointers, led the team, where Tavares (10 points and 9 rebounds), Llull (16) and Ndiaye (8 and 6 rebounds) also stood out. Two youth players also made their debuts: Declan and Gildas.
With extra focus and a lot of basketball, Madrid came onto the Palacio de los Deportes de Murcia court. Llull was the catalyst of a great first five minutes, where we managed to open the gap with a 5-16 run. The captain, at point guard, did everything right: seven points with just one missed shot and one assist. Tavares was solid on both sides of the court, and Ndiaye helped in rebounding (eight rebounds between them), an area in which we were twice as strong as our opponents. The different defences set up by Chus Mateo surprised UCAM Murcia in a first quarter that they dominated from start to finish (11-22).
Madrid's control
Madrid continued their good momentum in the second quarter with a high energy and intensity display. The youngsters also contributed excellently to this. Hugo González, Ndiaye and Gueye were on the court for the three minutes in which we stopped the Murcians from scoring (and on the bench were Gildas and Declan to complete the 12 players). Tavares increased the lead to 13 points at 14-27 in the 13th minute. The home side moved up their lines at the back and started to force us into turnovers to run and punish the defensive balance. Buoyed by three three-pointers (two by A. Kurucs), they reduced the gap to four points. They looked like changing the game, but Chus Mateo's men came back with a zone defence and the contribution of new attacking players such as Deck and Hezonja (31-40, min. 20).
The home team got closer again at the start of the second half. Ennis made it 38-43 with two minutes to play. Madrid, however, wouldn't allow their opponents any room to build up. They didn't allow them to get into runs and responded forcefully once again, always under control of the rebounding and a 2-3 zone defence that led to turnovers for the Murcians. Tavares was on the verge of a double-double, Llull provided the experience and Hezonja the show. The forward scored 16 points with 4 three-pointers in the third quarter and led a 23-8 run in our favour, with which we opened a 20-point gap.
Great defensive performance and double debut
Far from slowing down, our team maintained their defensive effort, offering hardly any compromise to their opponents. The team went on scoring points fluently in attack, with Campazzo, Abalde and Llull standing out. Everyone contributed to the total domination of the game against UCAM Murcia, who looked powerless in the face of our team's defensive solidity. They limited UCAM Murcia to 64 points (61 was the best of the season against them) and they came close to a 30-point difference at 53-80 with five minutes to go. Declan, who came on with 1:36 to go, and Gildas, with 53 seconds to play (64-85, min. 40) put the icing on the cake with their first-team debuts.
Prior to the start of the game, players from both teams, who wore black ribbons on their jerseys, held a minute's silence at the Palacio de Deportes de Murcia in memory of the victims of the DANA.
UCAM MURCIA - REAL MADRID