A perfect week for Real Madrid, beating Lenovo Tenerife at the WiZink Center to remain Endesa League leaders. Chus Mateo's side have made the best possible start to February after overcoming the Canary Islanders and completing the EuroLeague double-header against Panathinaikos and Monaco. Real Madrid continue their winning run in the league, having won 11 of the last 12 games. Musa and Poirier, each with 15 points and 20 PIR, were our team's star performers. The French centre played a key role in the final quarter to clinch the win.
Real Madrid came out switched on at the start of this entertaining game. With Williams-Goss leading the way, our team got off to a fast start to take an 11-5 advantage in the fifth minute. Chus Mateo's team improved their defensive output as the minutes went by to make it a 7-1 lead thanks to a tireless Tavares. Musa and Cornelie put the icing on the cake thanks to their success in field goals (100% each). The Bosnian forward grabbed the control of the home side's attack to score eight points in eight minutes. Tenerife looked to close the gap on the scoreboard through outside shooting, but the league leaders did not budge and took a perfect first quarter (28-20).
Lower scoring
If the first 10 minutes were defined by high scoring, the second quarter proved to be the opposite. Madrid were able to manage their lead and dominate the rebounding with Yabusele very active around the basket. Txus Vidorreta's men sought to get the better of our team's good defence from outside the 6.75m line, but Causeur, Sergio Rodríguez and Poirier gave their opponents no chance. Yabusele and Musa (12 points and 17 PIR) once more were pulling the strings in attack and led the madridistas to open a +14 gap at half-time (50-36).
Video.88-77: Real Madrid round off a perfect week
After the break, both teams upped their performances from the three-point line. A continuous exchange of blows saw Tenerife cut the deficit (61-51, min. 25). The visitors found chinks in Madrid's defence with very quick transitions to bring the difference down to 10 points. Hezonja, however, after his brilliant performance against Monaco, showed up again. His six points in a row enabled our team to gain some air in the midst of the Tenerife onslaught. The league leaders dominated their opponents to make the score 70-59 at the end of the third quarter.
Poirier instrumental
All was not yet over at the WiZink Center. There were still 10 minutes left to secure the 16th victory and defend the lead. Poirier, at the low post, played his part so that our team would continue to hold the lead (min. 33). Lenovo Tenerife refused to give up and, thanks to some good performances from Cook and Doonerkamp, they managed to get a 6-9 run. Our team was feeling the fatigue and our opponents took advantage of this to reduce Madrid's lead (81-75). However, Poirier (15 points) and Hezonja (13) kept Chus Mateo's team going with their points to restore the +10 on the scoreboard. Real Madrid didn't slow down and managed to secure another win to end a perfect week against three challenging opponents.
