Real Madrid have taken a 2-1 season lead. But this win wasn’t for league places; it was a spot in Europe’s biggest club game.
The Whites overcame Barcelona 74-67 in a classic back-and-forth battle, which included a few key runs, but Madrid’s was the most pivotal. A 17-2 run in the fourth knocked Barcelona down, as they will contest Sunday’s third and fourth place game for the second year in a row as they play CSKA Moscow.
Madrid’s offensive hunger was there to see, out the 40 rebounds totaled, 16 were offensive, compared to seven pulled down by Barca, plagued by an injury suffered by Nathan Jawai, who only saw 1:51 of action.
Felipe Reyes hit 17 points in 19 minutes on court for Real Madrid as he provided a real spark off the bench when Barcelona wrestled control in the early stages of the fourth.
“With the help of everyone – in this case, I had the chance to offer many things on offence, but always with the help of my teammates,” Reyes said afterwards.
“It is very important, it means a lot for us to put Madrid back on top. I hope that we can do it on Sunday. We face a strong opponent that has proved to be a powerful team, especially on defense. It will not be easy. This is an important win but we haven’t done anything yet, as the big game is on Sunday.”
When he was on form, his team-mates responded.
Sergio Llull added 13 points, highlighted by drilling three straight triples, as he went head-to-head with Barca’s Juan Carlos Navarro in three-point shooting for periods of the second. Sergio Rodriguez scored 12.
“What an exciting game, which we knew it was going to be,” said Real Madrid coach Pablo Laso. “Probably all around Europe, people now know what Barcelona vs Real Madrid means in basketball. Both teams had good moments and bad moments. The good thing about my team is that from the first moment of the season they knew they could always come back.
“When we were down the most, we changed the defence and made some stops and were able to make a run and that is basketball.”
Marcelinho Huetas led Barcelona’s cause with 19 points, supported by Ante Tomic’s 18. The Catalan side held their rivals to just nine points in the third period but came undone when it mattered, conceding 26 in the final ten minute spell.
Real Madrid’s Nikola Mirotic hit from distance to end the field goal drought of three minutes in the first quarter, as Tomic hit back-to-back sets of foul shots in that time. The play was physical and the flow was evident.
Led by Navarro, Barcelona started the stronger, leading 16-9 but a bucket from Rudy Fernandez gave Madrid some confidence after one as they trailed 16-11.
That confidence was still there as the Whites gained the advantage back and another bucket from Fernandez gave his side a 33-29 lead, forcing Barcelona coach Pascual into a timeout. They looked out of shape and unable to cope with the plays run by their opponents, which were flawless.
Just when it looked like Barca was to copy Madrid’s first quarter finish as the half-time break loomed, Reyes scored inside to secure a 39-33 lead at the break.
Barcelona came out determined in the third, especially Huertas, as he inspired a 12-0 run to give the Catalans control again before Marcus Slaughter ended the burst with a two-hand slam.
There was no doubting that Barcelona were pressuring Madrid into silly mistakes and capitalizing on them, Huertas was influential with five points in the final minute to give Barcelona a 51-48 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
It sparked Madrid into action, and when it mattered most. Barcelona looked fatigued, as they headed towards Sunday’s consolation game.
“I think we had everything ready to round out a great season – reaching a Euroleague final with the chance to win the title. We had the game in our hands and were not able to win it,” Huertas said.
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