Real Madrid seal sixteenth league win in a row

Real Madrid continued their fine run in the league, coming past MoraBanc Andorra to record a 24th win in 28 games and extend their unbeaten run to 16 in a row in the competition. With just a few days to go until the EuroLeague playoff with Olympiacos, the table-toppers came through a hard-fought clash, securing a dramatic victory in the final second. The referees turned to the monitors to rule that Kuric had stepped over the three-point line as he sunk a shot on the buzzer. The triple was chalked off and the two-pointer meant Chus Mateo's boys avoided overtime and clinched victory. Musa played a key role in the closing stages, ending with 21 points and a PIR of 24.
Chus Mateo made a series of changes to his starting five as he looked to share minutes around ahead of Wednesday's game against Olympiacos. Tavares' absence meant Madrid had to deal with the Felipe dos Anjos, and the Brazilian's rebounds caused our team problems, but Hezonja mitigated his effect with seven points without a miss (15-15; 5’). The game was being played at a break-neck pace, as Musa (10) and Ibaka managed to keep up with the point-scoring of Evans and Kuric. The rapid exchange of blows saw the first quarter end 29-29.
An evenly-matched encounter
The madridistas upped the aggression in the second period, closing out the rebound and refusing to give up any space on the outside, while remaining reliable around the hoop. Rathan-Mayes and Abalde's arrival helped the home team to a slight lead with 13 minutes played (35-32). But Andorra hit back quickly to ensure Real Madrid couldn't pull away, before Chus Mateo's boys edged the scores going into half-time thanks to Llull's buzzer beater to make it 46-44.
Madrid came out for the second half with a foot firmly on the gas. Campazzo came on (8 points) alongside Musa, giving the madridistas an offensive boost that saw them reach their biggest lead so far (61-53; 25’). Up the other end though, some sloppy defense gave away easy baskets, and Andorra, led by Evans and Lammers, levelled with a 0-7 run (67-67). That was met by an 11-2 for our team, leaving us with some breathing space into the final quarter (76-69).
Andorra refuse to give in
The League leaders came into the final period in determined fashion, racing to a 10-point lead with 33 on the clock (81-71). MoraBanc were able to turn the game around though, thanks to Evans, who was on fire from the three-point line (27 points) to go ahead thanks to a 0-10 run (36’). Musa reacted with two successive attacks to put the game back in our boys' favour (93-90), before Kuric brought his team to within a point with five seconds left, only for Llull to post two free-throws. Andorra needed three to force over-time and Kuric came up with the goods in the final second. Madrid called for a review, the referees headed to the screen and determined that the American had stepped over the 6.75 line. The basket was ruled a two-pointer, meaning no over-time and a tight 98-97 home win.
REAL MADRID-MORABANC ANDORA STATISTICS