Huge win over Paris Basketball

Real Madrid beat Paris Basketball in their last Euroleague home game of the year. It was an electric, attacking encounter, which Scariolo's men won with solid defence in the final quarter. Maledon's performance was superb; the author of the millionth point in the history of the tournament (21 points and 27 PIR in 23 minutes) was supported by Tavares (16 points, 4 blocks, and 22 rebounds), Lyles (10 of his 14 points in the final stretch), and a great collective effort.

Real Madrid started with a lot of concentration, controlling the defensive rebound and with Tavares being essential (6 points and 3 rebounds) to make the French hesitate to finish their actions, slowing down the devilish pace of Paris Basketball. Campazzo (5 points) and Abalde, with three-pointers, led a very fluid attack in the first 5 minutes (14-9). But against this opponent, you can't let your guard down. Their ultra-fast, get-and-shoot game worked well and, after three consecutive three-pointers, they went 5 up. Maledon got his team back on track, leading an 8-0 run, including the basket that surpassed one million points in the Euroleague, in the 43rd second, to win the first quarter 24-21.

Frenetic pace
The second quarter saw even more offensive activity. When Madrid had a good defensive balance and closed down its rebounding, it did well. Maledon and Deck, with their penetrations, kept Scariolo's team on top (39-38, min.16). It was not an easy task, as the Parisian team, as well as being good on the outside, was also starting to improve on the inside. We stopped Hifi, but Rhoden and Ouattara flourished (25 points between them) to regain the lead at 41-48. It was another great last-minute from Madrid, matching the 8-0 run of the first quarter, that left the scoreboard with a one-point difference at half-time (49-50).
The French continued to play their game, with short possessions, very high percentages in shooting (Herrera, Stevens and Rhoden) and loading the offensive rebound (M'Baye). In this way, they took the initiative during the third quarter, against a Madrid team that did a mental exercise not to despair and follow in their wake, even with that Parisian back-and-forth approach and total disorganisation. Tavares and Okeke sustained the home side, who minimised the visitors' inspiration before entering the final stretch (70-74, min.30).

Victory from defence
It seemed unthinkable given the way the game had unfolded, but it had to be that way. Against the Parisians, you cannot exchange baskets. Real Madrid had done so up to that point, but they needed to take a step forward in defence. And they did. After a start to the last quarter with two three-pointers apiece, and 76-80, our team brought out their winning character, that relentless fight until the end, which led to the comeback. They left their opponents behind by 16 points when they had scored 21, 24 and 29.

They all pulled together to pull the game off, and they were all important: Campazzo and his 4 steals, the last one from Hifi with 25 seconds left; Garuba and his impressive waste on both sides (6 points); the hand of Lyles; the intimidation of Tavares (4 blocks), or the work in the shadow of Deck and Okeke. Special mention to Maledon. The Madrid point guard gave a basketball lesson in this period with his reading of the game and his penetrations. One of them, at 92-90, ended in a basket, with 9 seconds left, which sealed the game and gave Real Madrid a very well-worked win (95-90, min.40).

Real Madrid-Paris Basketball statistics