Barça suffers and Real Madrid flies. The former have one step left to confirm their presence in the Copa del Rey; The seconds are clearly seeded. Against Gran Canaria the Blaugranas (74-77) achieved a victory that makes them depend on themselves to qualify for the cup competition with one match left, against Bilbao Basket. Against Tenerife the Madridistas consolidated their good dynamics despite the tight schedule (96-86).
Barcelona had to squeeze all its qualities, especially the effectiveness of Metu (18 points) and Punter (22) to prevail over the Canaries (74-77), already qualified for the cup competition, but who never gave up their good play . Only an error by Albicy, who committed a foul in attack on the Canaries’ last possession, and the success of Punter, who rose for a final triple with nine seconds remaining, unbalanced a complicated and close clash until the end.
A suffering that the whites experienced in a stuck start against a light Tenerife, with better ideas and more ambitious in the first quarter, in which Chus Mateo had to call a timeout (with 4-12) because not even the shots were close to the rim Not even the arms seemed firm when rebounding.
The game began in a triple duel in the second quarter, in which Doornekamp, Kramer and Fitipaldo pressed, and Ibaka and Hugo González responded. A tug of war that kept the Tenerife team ahead until two minutes before the break. It was just a matter of white patience. For that last stretch before the break, it was Tenerife that paled under the hoop and the Real Madrid arms turned into steel to appease the rival momentum and limit the disadvantage, mental and physical, point by point. Madrid went to the locker room with a moral victory, for the first time ahead with a triple – from Llull – to mark territory (45-42).
The white defense was armored from then on; and in attack, Eddy Tavares, Llull and Abalde doubled their effectiveness. And everyone else added: Campazzo (12 points), Hezonja (16), Ndiaye (10), Ibaka (15)… On the other side, the Tenerife team trembled and even the rebounds changed direction, with all the luck for the madridistas that they didn’t have in the first half hour.
Real Madrid showed patience and Tenerife hurriedly, and in the fight of opinions, the whites obtained greater returns. They minimized mistakes and built momentum with Ndiaye, Campazzo and Ibaka to extend the lead to 21 points before the fourth quarter. Kramer and Doornekamp pressed, again with a fine hand, but Chus Mateo’s did not lower the intensity; On the contrary, the difference did not fall below ten points. Seventh win in a row for Madrid, and four out of four this week; in the absence of Barcelona consolidating.
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