Real Madrid bordered on epic, but ended up dying on the shore against Anadolu Efes (64-74). A dismal first half caused the Turks to reach a maximum lead of 27 points midway through the second quarter. Everything changed after the break and the white team managed to close the gap to just one goal. However, the final push by the visitors caused the first defeat for Chus Mateo’s team at home all season, the sixth in ten games in the Euroleague.
All the inspiration that the white team showed last Tuesday against Virtus was conspicuous by its absence from very early on. Poirieron his return to what was his home, he insisted on making his former team see the player they let escape. A block on Hezonja to mark territory on the first play followed by constant intimidation in the zone, protection of the rim and the ability to score and even steal and assist.
The French center was one more piece in the perfect mechanism that was the Efes at the beginning, commanded by Darius Thompsonwhich left a monstrous dunk on Ndiaye. Quite the opposite of Madrid. With the light of Campazzo off, a Hezonja enormously misguided and no solution from the secondary team, the first quarter was gloomy. Six points scored, ten missed triples and six turnovers.
The Argentine point guard, in scoring mode, raised his team’s offensive level in the second quarter. But the white defense, affected by Tavares’ third foul, was not at the level of the Turks’ second unit. Two NBA champions in Milwaukee like Nwora and Elijah Bryant They found the hoop the way they wanted. The white deficit reached 27 points, although it was cut to 22 before the break. Campazzo defined his team’s performance during the first twenty minutes in a very clear way: «We didn’t do shit, we didn’t defend, we didn’t attack».
The script changed completely after the break. The heart that this team showed so much, and that seemed missing throughout the season, appeared when it was most needed. An omnipresent deck in all areas of the court, a furious and aggressive Campazzo in stellar mode, an intimidating Tavares and, after a forgettable first half in shooting, a successful Hezonja reduced the deficit to below ten in just a few minutes. A dunk from the Croatian over three blue shirts ended up unleashing the WiZink’s euphoria.
Once they were back in the game, Chus Mateo’s men had to face the challenge of completing the comeback. A triple of Lullafter failing his first five attempts, reduced the gap to two points, thanks to which he also reached the magical figure of 4,000 points in Euroleaguethe fifth player in history to do so, the second Spaniard after a certain Juan Carlos Navarro.
A masterful plug of Thompson to Hezonja and the subsequent referee review cooled the match and the atmosphere, which was taken advantage of by Efes to once again put distance between them. Willis He denied Tavares the option in the heights and the Turks hit from the line of three, led by the American and Beaubois. An income that a devastated and defeated Madrid was already unable to overcome.
#Madrid #drowns #shore #Efes
