Victory for the Turkish team (79-89) in a WiZink Center without epic
MADRID, 7 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid lost this Thursday 79-89 against Fenerbahçe Beko, despite the outstanding performance of Sergio Llull, in a match corresponding to matchday 28 of the Regular Phase and which confirmed the dip in results that the meringues are going through in this Euroleague .
Chus Mateo’s pupils had accumulated two consecutive defeats, against Olimpia Milano (81-76) and against Panathinaikos (86-97), so this new appointment on the WiZink Center field was presented as validation for the leader. It is true that Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey between both setbacks in the highest continental competition.
Despite everything, the visit of Sarunas Jasikevicius and the option of mathematically sealing their ticket for the playoffs were clear incentives. The first minutes of the match left a feeling of equality and offensive production, with Cape Verdean center Walter ‘Edy’ Tavares dominating in the low post.
On the part of the Turkish team, the success came mainly from Nick Calathes and Tyler Dorsey from mid-distance, although a triple from Nigel Hayes-Davis was later joined by a basket from Nathan Sestina to give a boost (15-20) , 1:14 before the end of the first quarter.
Dzanan Musa opened the account of the next period and at the same time his points locker, an instance that Gaby Deck also fulfilled before Scottie Wilbekin scored a long triple (19-25). Then Chus Mateo entrusted himself to the usual offensive flow between Sergio Rodríguez and Vincent Poirier, who kept Real Madrid alive (25-27).
On the other hand, defensive rebounding was not working for the home team. Fenerbahçe doubled its opponent there, with an outstanding performance by Hayes-Davis, and that caused the score to go from 25-27 to 25-36, a lead that Jasikevicius’s pupils managed at half-time (33-43).
Upon returning from the locker room, Llull emerged to guide Real Madrid’s ‘interruptus’ comeback. The one from Mahón connected well a couple of times with Campazzo and, between both point guards, they helped press the WiZink Center light (45-49) and react after another rival attack (49-52).
At 52.8 before the end of the third period, with Fenerbahçe up 56-67, there was a scuffle between Campazzo and Calathes in a merengue counterattack. With the Argentine on the ground, Georgios Papagiannis intervened and reproached him for a bad gesture, so the referee trio intervened to calm things down.
The incident resulted in an unsportsmanlike foul for Campazzo and another for Calathes, and a technical foul for each bench while Mateo and Jasikevicius looked on in shock. Poirier reduced the disadvantage (58-67) of Real Madrid in the last attack with a shot of that third act, since a subsequent triple by Papagiannis ran out of time and also did not go in.
CALATHES DRIVES AS HE WANTS
Above all, the Madridistas were paying for their disastrous three-point shot. Not in vain, Llull scored the first local triple (62-71) at 8:27 from the final horn, which lacked continuity. Opposite, Tarik Biberovic polished a roster where Johnathan Motley stood out.
Hayes-Davis and Wilbekin had not stopped shining in the light, and to make matters worse, Fenerbahçe was still well above its rival in the rebounding statistics. The difference was up to 16 points in favor of the Istanbul team (63-79), after a basket by Motley, and Real Madrid only had to appeal to the muses that smile so much at them.
With a 9-2 partial, forged by Musa and especially by Llull, Madrid’s Palacio de los Deportes dreamed of another night like Epiphany against Anadolu Efes, when its players won (130-126) after four overtimes and under a textbook ‘in crescendo’ rhythm.
On this occasion, Calathes cut short any white hope thanks to a formidable dominance of the last three minutes. This away victory placed Fenerbahçe with a record of 17-11, in the middle of the battle for direct playoff positions, and left Real Madrid with a record of 22-6, in an increasingly slim lead.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: REAL MADRID, 79 – FENERBAHÇE, 89 (33-43, at half-time).
–EQUIPMENT.
REAL MADRID: Campazzo (6), Llull (17), Hezonja (13), Yabusele (6) and Tavares (17) –starting quintet–; Causeur (-), Musa (13), Deck (2), Poirier (8) and S.Rodríguez (-).
FENERBAHÇE: Calathes (12), Dorsey (5), Noua (2), Hayes-Davis (17) and Sanli (7) — the starting quintet –; Guduric (8), Wilbekin (12), Motley (10), Biberovic (10), Papagiannis (4), Sestina (2) and Madar (-).
–PARTIALS: 15-20, 18-23, 25-24 and 21-22.
–REFEREES: Javor, Difallah and Jovcic. No eliminated.
–PAVILLION: WiZink Center, 10,127 spectators.