By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With the game tied at 81 in the closing seconds, Real Madrid send the ball to Edy Tavares hands. What happened after that was simply crazy.
Daulton Hommes blocked Tavares, who was coming off an ankle injury in the previous EuroLeague game against ASVEL, Darius Thompson got the ball and seemed stuck in the middle of Madrid’s defense with the clock running down. Still he managed to dish his 14th assist of the game – a personal best – to Matt Costello who shocked Madrid.
The sharp-shooting big man drilled a three at the buzzer and got fouled by Rudy Fernandez, giving with a four-point play the 85-81 win to Cazoo Baskonia over Real Madrid.
And after his big shot, he explain why swimming might be better and also gave a detailed account of the play that is already part of the EuroLeague lore: “We are going swimming with our daughters tomorrow, I am really excited for that! I don’t know, I couldn’t see the rim [in the last shot]. I just saw Rudy [Fernandez] running at me, they flipped me the ball, so I just tried to get it up there as quickly as I could. But it went in, so we got the win. It feels really good, you know? We had a difficult time on the road this year, everybody knows, and so to come here and get a win against the top team in the EuroLeague, it feels really good.”
Costello had in total 20 points, while Thompson also scored 18 points being a one-man offensive machine on a game that was close from wire to wire.
Dzanan Musa scored 21 points for Real Madrid, but ultimately Madrid dropped to 18-8 having played one game less so far, leaving Olympiacos (19-8) all alone on the top of the standings, while Baskonia with a 15-12 record is now sixth.
A shock for Real Madrid
Real Madrid coach Chus Mateo explained how his team lost control of the game in the closing minutes: “We turned the ball over too many times, lost too many rebounds on defense, and allowed too many threes, which they scored in clutch moments. They deserved the victory because they believed until the end. We had control in the end but they scored 2 threes in a row and tied the game.”
On the other side, Baskonia head coach Joan Penarroya couldn’t be more happy: “I am proud because we fought until the last second. We won the game in the last second but our mentality was perfect. Little things decided the victory or the loss but we are happy because this is an important victory for us in Madrid. Yes, Darius [Thompson] and Matt [Costello] were incredible but for me, the most important is the team and the job our team did.”