By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
They did it again. For a second consecutive game of the EuroLeague playoffs against Anadolu Efes, Real Madrid was trailing by double figures in the fourth quarter and they once more came back, this time to take a 82 – 76 win and tie the best-of-five series at 2-2.
After Sergio Llull’s Game 3 heroics, it was a youngster who mainly led the charge for the Blancos in Game 4. At 19 years of age, NBA Draft prospect Usman Garuba shattered his personal records with career-highs 24 points and 12 rebounds while pulling off some big defenses down the stretch to lead his team through a comeback from down 13 in the last period and the victory that keeps them alive in the series.
“I always trust in my team and my teammates, and I am very happy,” Garubsa said. “We have a lot of experienced players, so we listen to them. And we won.”
Real was down 59 – 72 with seven minutes to play and then went on to make an 15-1 run to go up 74 – 73 thanks to a 3-pointer by Alberto Abalde and after four consecutive points by Garuba. Efes was unable to retake the lead while Rudy Fernandez put the Blancos up 78 – 72 with 12 seconds remaining and Llull and Garuba also added free throws of their own to seal their team’s win.
“… until the last 5 minutes we controlled the game,” Efes coach Ergin Ataman said. “But tonight, except four of five players, we did not find a sixth or seventh player to find a contribution. The players who put great effort to change the first part of the game, they got tired and we missed the last five minutes.”
Efes had made a comeback of its won following a 17-0 entrance by Real behind an eruption by Jaycee Carroll who scored 11 out of 20 of his overall points in the first five minutes. Thanks to Rodrigue Beaubois dropping 5-5 triples to score 19 out of his 23 points in the first half, the Turkish side made a complete turnaround to even go up 31 – 47, a bit before halftime.
With Larkin contributing 23 points, Efes retained a steady advantage around double figures. The hosts remained in control until their collapse in the fourth period which resulted into them scoring just four points in the last seven minutes and Real grabbing the win.
Never giving up
That was Real Madrid‘s way in both of their home games and what pushed them towards sending the series back to Istanbul. Pablo Laso hopes to see the same spirit from his players in the decisive Game 5.
“I always have very good words about my players,” Laso said. “Because I see them every day, I see how they work and I see how they keep believing. We have our good days, our bad days, but they keep fighting. And this is something that I am very proud of. It has been a difficult year, but we are here, we are still alive. We keep on fighting. It’s inside of us. So, that’s what we are going to do. Now, enjoy this victory, rest tomorrow, be ready for [our Spanish League] game on the weekend, and go to Istanbul trying to get a Final Four spot, knowing how difficult it is going to be against a great team.”
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball