By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid is the first team to advance to the 2022 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four after being Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv 87-76 in Game 3 to sweep the quarterfinal series.
The Spanish side returns to the Final Four stage for the first time since 2019 and the 8th time overall in the last 11 years.
Sergio Llull came close to his season-high to lead Real with 18 points and six assists across a little over 22 minutes for a total PIR of 19.
Guerschon Yabusele had a strong impact in the second half, exiting the game with 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Pablo Laso’s squad grabbed a three-point lead in the opening quarter and managed to impose their pace until halftime to get ahead 51-41.
Maccabi’s comeback effort in the third period fell short, allowing their visitors to retain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
“Going into tonight, I think it was a very solid performance from our part”, Laso commented post-game. “We read the game very well, in offense we moved the ball well, we looked for mismatches. We had some stupid turnovers that hurt us because we knew that are they very good when they are able to rebound and run, so we tried to shut them down in those situations, but still it is not easy”.
Adding up to Real’s efforts, Vincent Poirier scored 14 points along with four rebounds, while Walter Tavares and Nigel Williams-Goss each scored 9 points.
Maccabi never managed to outweigh the pressure coming from back-to-back defeats in Madrid, in their first playoffs presence in six years. Scottie Wilbekin paced all scorers of the team with 22 points, James Nunnally followed with 17 points and Ante Zizic had 10.
“I feel sad and proud”, were coach Avi Even’s remarks after the elimination. “I really wanted to take this game. I feel that we left everything on the floor, but unfortunately, we played against a very good team, and we didn’t really manage to win. We look forward to the local Israeli League and taking the title”
Photo credit: EuroLeague