ACB – semi-final – working day 2
Madrid beat Barcelona again in the ACB semifinals and scored 2-0 in the series before visiting the Palau on Sunday in search of securing a place in the final (this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. UCAM Murcia hosts Unicaja Malaga with 0-2 in favor). Five white players surpassed 10 points in another offensive display by Chus Mateo’s team that left the Blaugrana with no options, unable to contain the blows that came from each corner and to take advantage of Vesely’s success (24 points).
Grimau shook the tree from an initial quintet with variations of pieces and style compared to Wednesday’s duel, with Kalinic, Da Silva and Willy Hernangómez in search of a change of script. The Spanish center smashed the first ball and stopped the colossus Tavares on the opposite board. Ricky hit the triple, the Barça cross in the first match, for a 0-5 visitor start. Barça needed a good bag of points to face the whites’ repertoire and put the same pace into the duel as their rival. Musa and Abalde responded from the perimeter to turn the situation around (14-9) while the Blaugrana alternated the chips to maintain the defensive fever. Campazzo had already begun to control the clock and Madrid to close the spaces. Four Barcelona fans surrounded Tavares and even then the giant lost the ball. Hezonja erupted when he was replaced by Chus Mateo, a symptom of the tension of the night. The dance of rotations helped Barça find inspiration from Satoransky and Vesely (22-24 in the first break).
Barça defense in the zone. The lock and the speed to steal and run boosted the Barcelona fans. The volcanic Hezonja returned to the court full of adrenaline, although this time the whites had inherited the evil of missed triples. Llull turned to go inside and teacher Rudy took an offensive foul on Da Silva. Those old men…Barça multiplied its arms when a Real Madrid player received in the paint. The pace of the match was very high and each basket cost a waste of sweat due to the fierceness of the defenders (31-32). Madrid had resisted a remarkable Barça at half-time against an earthly Campazzo (no assists in the first half), riding on the inexhaustible energy of Llull. The Spaniard struck from a distance, as if his years (36) did not weigh him down in a clash of such intensity (44-40 at half-time).
A triple by Parker opened a confrontation between shooters that Musa and Hezonja soon accepted. It was more difficult for Barça to break through in the static attack and they made mistakes when they found a more comfortable position; Madrid was happy burning shoes. The 52-43 opened a small gap on the scoreboard. Vesely executed at medium distance and on the opposite court Campazzo accelerated to score in the center. Hezonja and Parker offered a confrontation full of talent from which the Croatian came out with the advantage. The game was slipping away from the Barcelona fans and Grimau used the double base formula with Ricky and Satoransky. The Campazzo-Tavares connection worked better and Madrid gave another push (67-53). The appearance of a powerful Parra gave breath back to his team, but it was Llull, Llull again, the man with the impossible baskets, who closed the quarter with a triple, another one in his career, in the last second almost from the center of the field (73-62).
Llull-Rudy-Yabusele in three bands to crown a very fast counterattack. Madrid had control of the film and added close to the net thanks to Poirier and outside through Yabusele. The whites circulated the ball with excessive ease under the direction and aim of Chacho and Llull (87-71). At Barça there was no recognizable face but rather it worked in fits and starts, with a lot of changing of cards as the minutes passed (Brizuela and Jokubaitis did not compete for even a second). Laprovittola and Satoransky scored by three in a last attempt to react that tightened the result (93-84). Too late for the Barcelona fans, who once again conceded too many points (104, compared to the 97 received on Wednesday). Madrid hung in the final moments of Tavares to preserve the lead and travel to the Palau with the ACB final on the horizon.
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