Exhibition from the league leaders in Badalona

Real Madrid beat Joventut in the 15th league game of the season in Badalona and closed a demanding week with a third straight win after their EuroLeague victories over Red Star and Partizan. Chus Mateo's team put on a spectacular show in the three-pointers (15 scored) as well as in defence to pick up their 14th win in a game that they got on track in the first half, in which they scored 53 points. Our team surpassed the 100-point barrier in their last 2023 outing. Musa, with 15 points and 21 PIR, led Madrid in scoring.

The league leaders came out to the Palau Olímpic de Badalona very focused and without a trace of the great effort they had put in just two days prior. From the start, they went straight into offence with a very high tempo and were very accurate with their two-point shooting. This and the dominance in the rebounding allowed our team to sign a run of 3-12 (5'). The quintet used by Chus Mateo showed depth of squad, with Hezonja (8 points and 3 rebounds) and Musa (7) leading the offensive. The madridistas did not give anything away and ended the first quarter with a +8 lead (18-26).

A sublime second quarter
The changes maintained Madrid's offensive and defensive capacity. The team closed the rim very well and did not allow their opponents any second chances. Under the command of Alocén, they continued to move the ball well and hit hard from the outside to take another lead (21-39, min. 15). Joventut reacted to prevent Madrid from breaking the game open. It was not enough as Hezonja and Rudy appeared to give an exhibition from three-point range (47% success rate) and put the icing on the cake of a perfect first half (35-53).

Chus Mateo's team came out after the break without Hezonja, who had been disqualified for two consecutive technical fouls. Very little changed however, as Musa, Causeur and Campazzo picked up the scoring baton. Our team did not take their foot off the throttle and continued to add points thanks to great defensive work (28 rebounds and 9 steals) to increase the difference to +29. The third quarter ended like the previous two: with a crushing deficit (55-79).

Everyone played a part
With the game very close, Chus Mateo gave minutes to all of his players. The pace and intensity of Alocén, Abalde, Poirier and Rudy was decisive. They went on a 0-8 run in the opening minutes of the last quarter. La Penya did not want our team to leave with a resounding victory, but that was impossible and Madrid surpassed 100 points, with 15 three-pointers scored in the end. Our team thus culminated a perfect week in Badalona.