Madrid paid off in the end

In the last match before the Cup there were several games in one, a lot of very good segments from Rio Breogán and too many bad ones from Madrid, which, however, brought the victory (73-80) from less to more. The Whites changed the defensive tempo in the final quarter and a half as Campazzo settled down and Tavares came decisively to the fore.

Breoghan, with a fantastic Ben McLemore (19 of 21 points in the first 22 minutes), came out with a very high intensity, stealing rebounds from his opponents under the rim, looking for the basket and adding good percentages. The visitors responded somewhat in the second four with Alosen and Abalde on the court (from 24-15 to 36-37); but after the break there was a new burst of sky against the worst Madrid on the track, without interaction in the team, Campazzo was in a hurry and ran in to score three (1 of 8), Musa forced individually, and Lull too, although the captain was the captain only to hold on (17 points , 5/10 out of three). In the middle of the third period, Musa missed three shots in a row, two of them were almost converted, and on one of them, which was a fast break, Yabusele came back and also scored. Toni Nakic answered in another basket with a simple penetration after an erroneous attempt to press Merengue: +12, 54-42, minute 34.

Breoghan dreamed big and stopped. Chus Mateo included Hezonja and Dec until the end, and Campazzo played the entire second half, and Tavares sat down for only 17 seconds. In the next nine minutes the partial score was 3-18. Lull was right in this reaction and the pressure and cohesion in defense were different. Mrsic’s team added only three free throws from six attempts in a particular foul against Sakho. And just when the comeback seemed complete, in the middle of the Galician carousel of defeats, both teams gave the fans a pretty good last 6 long minutes. Tavares received the ball (either after an assist or after an offensive rebound) and acted decisively: dunk, dunk and 2+1 in three consecutive attacks. Good news in his second appearance after almost a month of injury. And the returning Campazzo appeared, less hasty, although unsuccessfully out of three: 2+1, layup and excellent help to Deku in three more attacks in a row. Sakho tried to respond with McLemore’s absence and Hezondja completed the win with two intense passes in his defensive work. “Sometimes you start thinking about what will happen (in the Cup) and you don’t respect the present too much,” Chus told Mateo after the victory. Now yes, there is only a tournament ahead in Malaga, a knockout tournament to which Madrid arrives with some doubts, less collected than a month and a half ago, with more shutdowns and more impulsive.