Real Madrid beat Unicaja at the WiZink Center

Real Madrid secured an impressive victory over Unicaja, their seventh win in the competition after overcoming the league leaders at the WiZink Center. Chus Mateo's men seized the initiative from the outset and put in a very complete performance where they excelled defensively. This victory means that our team remains unbeaten at home in the competition. Deck had a great game with 24 points and 24 PIR. Abalde also played well, with 12 points and 7 rebounds for 20 PIR, and Campazzo (18 PIR).
Madrid were aware that it wasn't going to be easy to beat the leaders and they started very focused on both sides of the court: defending very aggressively, running the court and taking good shots. All this resulted in an 8-0 run in less than two minutes with Deck and Abalde contributing from the outside. Chus Mateo‘s men maintained the advantage thanks to their good percentages from three-pointers and by disconnecting Malaga's inside game thanks to a strong Ndiaye (4 rebounds). Unicaja improved at the end of the first quarter that our team took (18-13).
Close second quarter
Unicaja's charge levelled the score (18-17). But then Llull showed up. The captain's introduction (7 points and 100% success rate on his shots) gave Madrid an extra lift, as they got back on track and took the lead to 30-20 (15'). Ibon Navarro's men, however, took advantage of the home side's excessive fouls to score points from the free-throw line and hit back with a 4-12 run. Madrid finally went into the break with a +5 lead (39-34) in a very even second quarter.
After the break, Chus Mateo‘s team imposed a high tempo to pull away on the scoreboard thanks to Deck (14 points) and Abalde. They went on a 9-2 run in less than three minutes (48-36). After every attempt by the Malagueños to respond, our team showed its best defensive performance and didn't create any second chances. They built up a lead of 8 points before the final quarter (60-52).
Deck leads the way
The Madrid team had ten minutes to seal a very important victory. They continued in the same vein: firm and forceful in attack and defence. Hezonja and Ibaka got the better of Osetkowski and Kravish, allowing them to take a comfortable lead (72-56; min. 34). Deck continued to play his part and ended up scoring 24 points. Madrid didn't get complacent in the final stretch and managed their lead on the scoreboard to seal a big win, their seventh in the league.
REAL MADRID-UNICAJA STATISTICS