Euroleague: Madrid recovers its pulse against a brave Valencia | Sports | The USA Print

euroleague working day 28

real Madrid

Valencia Basketball

Madrid recovered their pulse in the Euroleague in their second Spanish duel of the week. After giving up on their court against Baskonia on Tuesday, with that triple costello by Costello at the last second, Chus Mateo’s team opened their field again to defeat Valencia (95-91) this time and continue in the bid for first place (leaders Olympiacos beat Bayern 102-74). The Whites will catch up in the European competition next Tuesday with their visit to Anadolu Efes, by making up the game postponed due to the earthquake in Turkey. Against Valencia, another tachycardic ending fell on their side this time thanks to the final push from Deck, White’s top scorer with 18 points, to the 14 of the omnipresent Tavares. Mumbrú’s group, which deserves to continue the next season among the elite, stretched its resistance until the last possession with a lot of three-pointers in the backpack (15 hits out of 31 attempts) and a brilliant Chris Jones, author of 19 points.

The history of these matches is also written from the confrontation between Tavares and Dubljevic. The Cape Verdean giant wants to dance on the inside. The Montenegrin rook is a specialist in stinging on the outside. Some progress towards painting, others towards the exterior. The first pairings cost the madridista a few steps and a foul in attack. At the orange, the triple smiled for his team to hunt a 6-10 start. In between, a lot of penetration into the heart of the area. From Hezonja and Musa, from Radebaugh and Chris Jones. The odometer at full speed in both teams, fast and mobile. In that carousel Madrid has more weapons than to show off. Tavares dressed as an assistant, a suit that suits him better and better, and the high speed of his pieces turned the result around: 16-12. Prepelic’s wrist stretched the visitor’s resistance and Hezonja also responded to the challenge from the perimeter while Poirier and Rivero inherited the struggle in the area (24-20 at the end of the first quarter).

Valencia was fine from a distance. Jasiel Rivero increased the record of the Mumbrú group from the perimeter and the Cuban also challenged Tavares under the net. That push allowed the Valencian team to resist against the white arreones, which added three by three through Rudy and Hanga (38-33). The orange coach took advantage of a port time to ask for “aggression”, and even burn a foul. There was no way, however, to stop Sergio Rodríguez when the Canarian point guard passed the ball from behind to Tavares, who caught it on the fly to sign a two plus one and send the whites to their greatest lead (41-33). There are times when the Cape Verdean roof is half Madrid. Chus Mateo then gave the warrior a few minutes of rest. Valencia had gone too much to the source of the triple but the tap had dried up and the break came for Mumbrú’s troops like the bell that saved the beaten boxer (49-40).

The third quarter usually acts as an alarm clock for Valencia. That’s how it went. In 30 seconds they gave a mouthful of five points with a triple by Webb and a counter by Dubljevic after a recovery. The orange center was also encouraged from a distance (51-48) to the anger of Tavares, who in the next action committed doubles. Chus Mateo ordered the clock to stop. Valencia continued with the hammer from the triple. Jones bingo, Arostegui bingo and the match that had changed direction again (53-55). The whites went through a moment of precipitation, penalized for some losses that already punished them on Tuesday against Baskonia. Tavares also had a third foul that, despite everything, did not prevent him from adding another block to an amazing statistic: he already has 348 in the Euroleague, a record man.

Sergio Rodríguez and Evans exchanged triples. The quote moved on a tile. Madrid kept Tavares on the court until he added the fourth foul with two minutes remaining to still reach the last quarter. The meeting was already being chewed in slow motion, especially when the review of actions on the screen intervened. In the middle of the heat, Rudy moment: the eternal forward recovered a ball, caused a foul and made two free throws. With 10 minutes to go, 71-65.

Without Tavares, Poirier assumes the stripes in the trench seconded by Deck’s fever. Madrid got muscle and accelerated with small advantages, but Valencia responded quickly with balls to Rivero and Evans pecking from the outside. Mumbrú’s team wasted no time: short possessions to stay in the gap (75-72, 83-79). Jones chained five points and Musa, missing for a good part of the night, raised his hand to take an outside shot that left the whites a finger ahead. Madrid once again faced a very tight finish, like the one two days earlier against Baskonia. Valencia continued to demonstrate its competitor material against larger groups in the Euroleague. The clash was decided in the hands of those who were not afraid to attack the hoop. Above all, Deck. The Argentine penetrated through gritted teeth to score first and then assist the recovering Tavares, and stretched out his arms in defense to win back a vital ball. Jones gave the last kidney blow to a very brave Valencia.

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