Markus Howard, the top scorer, challenges champion Madrid with Baskonia

Real Madrid steps into the quarterfinals of the Euroleague as the iron leader of the regular phase (27 wins) and the current champion of the competition. Also under the memory of that unforgettable and controversial series a year ago against Zeljko Obradovic’s Partizan Belgrade, marked by the brawl in the second game. From that salad of sanctions, Madrid emerged with a 0-2 loss heading to Belgrade but with several rival stars (Punter, Lessort) out of play. Madrid was once again the team of the impossible and for the first time a team overcame that disadvantage. Llull wrote the ecstasy with a basket with 3.2 seconds left to give the whites the victory in the final against Olympiacos.

A season later, Baskonia appears opposite, landing after a previous qualifying round. “He is the most difficult opponent we could face,” warns Chus Mateo, the Madrid coach, before the first duel of a best-of-five series, tonight (9:00 p.m., Movistar) at the WiZink Center; “They have a lot of scoring, they play very well, they fight, they have character and they return to the games when it seems like they are defeated.”

The two teams show off their weapons. Madrid closed the regular phase as number one in assists per game (20.5), blocks (3.5), rebounds (36.8) and efficiency (106.5). Baskonia exhibits the tournament’s top scorer, Markus Howard (19.5 points per night), who is both the best three-point shooter (3.8 hits, almost 40%), and the greatest assistant, Miller McIntyre (7. 2, ahead of Campazzo’s 6.5 basket passes). In the individual battle, Madrid contributes the two best blockers, Poirier (1.5) and Tavares (1.4).

If a year ago Kevin Punter was Partizan’s great threat, today the spotlight is on Howard. “He makes 11 triples per game in the last two months!” Chus Mateo stated yesterday; “We have to keep an eye on him, but we will be foolish if we forget McIntyre, Costello, Marinkovic…”.

“You don’t have to give second options and that means closing the rebound and not losing balls,” asked Baskonia coach Dusko Ivanovic (66 years old). The whites won in Vitoria (77-79) and fell at home (91-95) when they had already secured a very solid lead: four wins ahead of the runners-up, Panathinaikos and Monaco (nine more than Baskonia).

The winner of the match will reach the Final Four in Berlin, from May 24 to 26, and will face the winner of the tie between Barcelona and Olympiacos (Panathinaikos-Maccabi and Monaco-Fenerbahçe) in the semifinals.

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