MADRID, 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid beat Lenovo Tenerife (80-78) this Sunday on matchday 24 of the Endesa League, suffering until the end to maintain its lead alone, while Barça fell (103-96) against Baskonia at the Fernando Buesa Sand.
Chus Mateo’s team took refuge in the domestic competition, knowing how to suffer in La Laguna, in the midst of their bad streak in the Euroleague, where they had three consecutive defeats. Tenerife did not have their day in the triple, neither did Madrid, nor did they find their favorite duo Giorgi Shermadini and Marcelinho Huertas.
However, the Canarian team remained in the fight until the last possession. Four seconds from the end, two free throws from Sergio Llull gave the whites the victory, to respond to the pressure of a Unicaja that will host Madrid next Sunday, separated by a victory, in the fight for the lead.
Edy Tavares, getting closer to his best version after injury, was the standout with a double-double and 20 PIR, followed by Mario Hezonja (10 points and 19 PIR) and Vincent Poirier (10 and 16). Without standing out so much in numbers, the performance of Facundo Campazzo and Fabien Causeur was also decisive. Fran Guerra and Kyle Guy were the ones who pulled the aurinegro car, who maintain their position in the ‘playoffs’.
For its part, in Ricky Rubio’s return to the ACB, Barça could not withstand a Baskonia that wanted to give away one of its great nights to more than 13,000 spectators at the Fernando Buesa Arena. After three consecutive defeats in the Endesa League, the Basque team struck down the Catalans with 37 points (8 triples) from Markus Howard, 23 from Matt Costello and 11 points and 11 rebounds from Tadas Sedekerskis.
The visiting team was in tow and did not throw in the towel, but Howard’s success and the local offensive rebound sealed the victory for a Baskonia that does not want to see itself out of the ‘Top 8’. Roger Grimau’s men, with 16 wins compared to Madrid’s 21, are left without a cushion to at least maintain their top seed status.
For its part, Valencia Basket placed sixth, with its 15th victory, by beating Monbus Obradoiro at home (75-97). The ‘taronja’ team was led in Fontes do Sar by an unstoppable Chris Jones (22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 26 efficiency), with the visitors always in control.
In the afternoon, the Galician team saw the lower zone tighten a lot as Coviran Granada surpassed them in the table with their seventh victory and bottom-placed Zunder Palencia achieved their fifth victory. The Nasrid team survived Álex Reyes to beat Surne Bilbao Basket (87-79), thanks to David Kramer’s finish.
Meanwhile, the Palencia team extended its faith in permanence with its second victory in the last three games, this time beating a direct rival like MoraBanc Andorra (77-70), with 15 points from Van der Vuurst. The Andorran team has eight wins, with only one in the last six.