By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid was dominant from the start and made short work of Barcelona’s famed defense to ultimately get a comfortable 88 – 75 road win in Game 1 of the Spanish ACB League Finals.
This victory would be celebrated more by Real if forward Anthony Randolph didn’t suffer what appeared to be a very ugly leg injury in the second period that finished 31 – 49 in favor of his team.
Adam Hanga scored all of his 16 points and dished out two of his six assists in the first half to help lay the foundations for Real’s win. His team kept dismantling Barca to even go up 51 – 74 at the end of the third period.
Barcelona produced 12 quick unanswered points to cut its deficit to 63 – 74 with seven minutes remaining. With Gabriel Deck pulling off some key plays on both ends, Real held on to a double-digit advantage, and with 1:35 to play, Fabien Causeur hit a 3-pointer for the 75 – 88 to call the game over.
Deck had a game-high 18 points, eight of them in the final period, plus five rebounds. Causeur scored 15 points and Guerschon Yabusele provided 11 points (on 3-11 shots) plus nine boards.
Nicolas Laprovittola finished with 15 points, Nikola Mirotic posted 13 points plus six rebounds and Kyle Kuric dropped 12 points for Barcelona.