Madrid beat the Dallas Mavericks on Doncic's return

Madridismo had marked the date in their calendars and it would sure become an unforgettable night. Our team beat the Dallas Mavericks at the WiZink Center with a spectacular, emotionally charged display. Of course, five years after he left, club legend and honorary member Luka Doncic Florentino Pérez presented him with the award he gained back in 2021 prior to the game, came home. The Slovenian was received in some style by the fans but he was powerless to stop another impressive feat by the best team in Europe. For the second successive time third in total, Real Madrid got the better of an NBA franchise. On this occasion it came with another signature comeback thanks to a stunning final five minutes. Campazzo 20 points, Poirier 19, 10 rebounds and six blocks, Llull 19 and 5 triples and Yabusele 18 spearheaded the victory.
 
The memorable evening began with Real Madrid's emotional pre-match presentation and tribute to Luka Doncic. Our president, Florentino Pérez, handed over his insignia as honorary club member, before there was a minute's silence held in memory of Raúl Ronda Ortiz, member of the Board of Directors, and Thérèse Faye, mother of our player Eli John Ndiaye. Nobody wanted to miss out, not the football first-team, nor Tavares, who was part of the starting five following four games out with a respiratory infection.
 
Spectacular start
The game got underway with some superb three-point shooting, as Llull and Doncic traded blows. Three without a miss for our captain and three faultless triples for the Slovenian, who was on court for 4:59 minutes before a previous muscle injury forced him off. Both teams' offense was flowing and the point-scoring took a relentless pace in the opening quarter. Madrid hit eight triples Campazzo, Rudy and Hezonja to the Dallas Mavericks' seven. With Poirier dominating the paint and the accuracy from outside, our boys were leading the scoring against the team from Texas, who were led by Hardaway Jr. and Powell 38-37, min.12.

The rhythm remains the same
More tributes were to come in the break between the first two quarters. Team captains Llull and Rudy, and the team's all-time leading appearance-maker Felipe Reyes, presented Doncic with a replica of the tenth European Cup, the one lifted in Belgrade in 2018 with the young Slovenian as MVP. He then posed for photos alongside the rest of the squad, the president and other former madridistas. The special moment gave way to a further 12 frenetic minutes. Causeur 7 points sent Madrid to +8 57-48, min.19, but Jason Kidd's team is one packed full of quality. Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry took charge to turn the scores around and head into the break 65-71 up.
 
Dallas up the pressure; Madrid stand strong
In the midst of a deluge of games this was the third in five days, with Anadolu Efes to come in two days' time, we were struggling to focus in defense, and the Mavericks capitalized with consistent points to open up over a ten-point gap. The inspired Llull kept Madrid in touch with his fifth three-pointer, and 19 points in 16 minutes. Poirier was also posting some nice baskets to pull us back to within six, before the third quarter finished 90-99.
 
Another signature win
The end-to-end nature of the game continued into the final spell. The madridistas started strongly as Poirier continued his top class display at both ends 6 blocks, cutting the deficit to six once more. The turnaround wouldn't quite come though, and Dallas pulled away yet again, taking their lead to 11 points at 101-112 in the 43rd minute. That's when the madridista DNA kicked in and our team turned the game on its head in the final five minutes. With blind faith in the victory, they upped their aggression at the back and began to cause their opponents problems. Yabusele kicked things off, followed by Campazzo. The Argentine played a key role in offense with 12 points 3 triples in the period, clinching another comeback for our boys and making it 122-120 with just one minute left on the clock. It was time to dig in, and Poirier completed his double-double with a stunning block on Lawson and a rebound that sealed the win alongside Campazzo's final three-pointer 127-123, min.48. 

ROSTERS
127-Real Madrid 38+27+25+37: Campazzo 20, Llull 19, Musa 8, Yabusele 18 and Tavares 8-Starting Five-Rudy 14, Albalde 0, Causeur 7, Hezonja 5, Sergio Rodríguez 6, Poirier 19, Ndiaye 0, Diagne 3, Hugo González 0
123-Dallas Mavericks 37+34+28+24: Doncic 9, Exum 13, Jones Jr. 8, G. Williams 8 and Lively 6-Starting Five-Hardaway Jr. 21, Powell 13, Green 9, S. Curry 13, Kleber 0, Hardy 9, Dennis 2, Holmes 0, Prosper 5, Lawson 4, Walker 3 and Wieskamp 0.