Real Madrid handcuff Barça in a final with suspense



The Real Madrid, proud in defense and successful from the perimeter (15 of 34 triples), handcuffed the Barça (85-87) until the last minute, when the Barça team almost came back from a 9-point deficit, but Laprovittola avoided it with a 2 + 1 with four seconds to go.

In the return to the Endesa League of Pau Gasol, who remained without scoring in the 8 minutes they played, the Whites were very solid at the Palau Blaugrana and, with three more victories than the Catalan team, took an almost definitive step to finish the first phase as the leader.

The presence of Gasol monopolized all the spotlights in the previous one. Jasikevicius gave the alternative to the starting Catalan power forward, but the protagonist in the first half was Real Madrid's choral game with five players -Rudy Fernández, Laprovittola, Causeur, Vukcevic and Garuba- surpassing ten points.

The white team commanded in the first minutes. Domino lowered the rim capturing 7 offensive rebounds, drowning Mirotic and himself Gasoline -they both finished the first half without scoring-, Laprovittola pulled the strings of his team and Garuba gave a defensive lesson.

The starting partial (0-9, min.3) was a declaration of intentions by Pablo Laso, despite Tavares' two fouls in the first five minutes.

The Barça, uncomfortable and without success from the perimeter, survived from the hand of sparks from Higgins and Calathes, but the rhythm of the game was dominated by the visiting team after the first ten minutes (15-20).

A dynamic that was maintained in the second act. Real Madrid found in the triples of Rudy Fernández and the young Vukcevic the partial that was missing (0-11) to leave Barça stunned (22-36, min.16).

Before the break, Kuric came to the rescue of his team with two triples, but the Whites kept their solidity behind to maintain a comfortable advantage at halftime, somewhat short by ambition and the game shown by Barça (33-42).

The mentality of the locals changed diametrically in the resumption. And that Abalde, with two consecutive triples, placed Real Madrid with an income of fourteen points (35-49, min 23).

The Barça was reunited with the defense. It helped the pressure to the whole court of Jasikevicius. The Catalans also controlled the rebound, to which was added the appearance in attack by Mirotic.

Real Madrid also saw how Tavares was whistled the fourth foul (min.24). In this way, from 35-49 it was reached 57-59 at the end of the third quarter, after a 22-10 partial favorable to Barça, which did not face the last quarter with an advantage due to the triples of Real Madrid, with a successful Rudy Fernandez.

When it seemed that in the last quarter equality would reign, the soul of Real Madrid reappeared and passed over an unknown Barça.

The white team pressed on defense, forcing the losses of their rival, and did not miss from the perimeter, with a successful Causeur, to chain a 4-15 run in four minutes (61-74, min.34).

Despite this, Barça did not lower their arms and, under the guidance of Higgins, the match's top scorer with 21 points, they reached 4 points with 2 minutes and 50 seconds to go. But the locals rushed in and Real Madrid faced the last 40 seconds with a nine-point lead (74-83).

It was then that the game went crazy and Barça, led by Higgins and a triple by Mirotic with ten seconds to go, got ahead of Real Madrid (85-84). Laprovittola's pulse did not tremble, who crossed the field to force a 2 + 1 to 4 seconds to go, seal a well-deserved victory for the visitors and put an end to 16 consecutive victories in Barça's Endesa League.

Data sheet:

85 - Barça (15 + 18 + 24 + 28): Calathes (18), Higgins (21), Sergi Martínez (-), Mirotic (17), Gasol (-) -starting five-, Davies (2), Westermann (-), Hanga (2), Smit (7), Oriola (3), Abrines (3) and Kuric (12).

87 - Real Madrid (20 + 22 + 17 + 28): Laprovittola (12), Abalde (7), Taylor (1), Tyus (6), Tavares (4) -starting five-, Causeur (10), Rudy Fernández (13), Vukcevic (11), Alocén (-), Garuba (11), Carroll (5) and Llull (7).

Referees: Antonio Conde, Jiam de Dios Oyan and Martí Caballero. Eliminated: Tavares (min.37) and Vukcevic (min. 40).

Incidents: Match of matchday 30 of the Endesa League played without an audience at the Palau Blaugrana. Before the game, a minute of silence was observed for the death of the former president of the Catalan Basketball Federation Enric Piquet and the former player and coach Miguel Ángel López Abril

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