By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
On a really tough night on an emotional note following the catastrophe that occurred in Belgrade, Real Madrid managed to get the 85-78 on-the-road win in Stark Arena against Partizan, forcing Game 5.
Adam Hanga played one of the most efficient halves of his career, going to the locker room at halftime with 15 points and 3/4 from beyond the arc. At the end of Game 4, Dzanan Musa and Gabriel Deck followed, as the Bosnian guard had 14 points and 8 rebounds, and the Argentinian scored 14 on his return. The latter had to leave the court with three minutes left in the game due to a knee injury.
“It’s difficult to beat Partizan here, and it’s going to be another tough one for sure. We have to recover from injuries”, Chus Mateo said in the post-game flash interview, before Sergio Rodriguez took a moment to speak about the tragedy that happened in Belgrade. “I wanna send a condolence to all the people involved here, the atmosphere was emotional from the beginning. We have to rest these couple of days, the energy will be crucial. It’s going to be difficult”, Chacho added.
“I feel for the families of victims. It’s a sad day for everybody, for Serbian people and Spanish people. It’s the worst thing that can happen”, Real Madrid‘s head coach added in the post-game press conference. “We played consistently in the first quarter, it’s not easy against Partizan to keep advantage, because they are fighters. We stayed together”, he also said.
Mathias Lessort, who came back from the disqualification, had 11 points and 7 rebounds. The French center tried to contain Walter Tavares, who erupted for a giant double-double in Game 3 to put Real Madrid back into contention in the series. The Capoverdian followed with 15 points and 7 boards. “That was our goal and we came here, in front of the best fans in Europe by far. We played every second like it was the last one”, he said in the flash post-game interview.
Zach LeDay and Ioannis Papapetrou led Partizan in the first half, helping the Serbian side reduce the gap from beyond the arc and in the post. They ended the game respectively with 25 and 18 points, dragging Zeljko Obradovic‘s team in the last two quarters as well.
“We didn’t play smart, this is why we lost. Let’s see if we are able to change something in Game 5”, the legendary Serbian head coach commented. “Tavares taking the offensive rebound and scoring decided the game, we had two open shots and we didn’t score. The whole game was over there. The team fought and tried to give everything, but it wasn’t enough”, Zeljko Obradovic.
While both Mathias Lessort and Gabriel Deck came back to the court of the Stark Arena after missing Game 3, Kevin Punter was already out for the home side and will come back in the do-or-die Game 5 in Madrid. Guerschon Yabusele won’t play any more games this season.
Before the game, emotions spread all over the Stark Arena, as both teams and the EuroLeague organization paid tribute to the victims of the tragedic school shooting that happened in Belgrade. The fans didn’t sing for the first two halves, and the music wasn’t played.
Thousands of flowers, moreover, were thrown into the court before the tip-off. The CEO of the EuroLeague Dejan Bodiroga addressed Eurohoops that both the team and the Republic of Serbia wanted to play the game as scheduled, despite the emotional tragedy.
Danilo Andjusic and Nigel Williams-Goss addressing the Belgrade crowd in Serbian and English, paying their respects to the victims of the school shooting in Serbia
And then flowers are thrown in the arena… pic.twitter.com/E1RbMDRyak
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) May 4, 2023
After being down by 14 off to a great start by Real Madrid, Partizan came back and tied the game at 42-42 with a dagger by Danilo Adjusic with less than twenty seconds left before halftime. Zeljko Obradovic’s team had a 27-18 run in the second quarter, reacting following the first tight ten minutes.
The second half started with both teams struggling to shoot and finding the right way to create efficient actions on offense. Partizan took control of the game getting the first advantage since the start with 05:05 left in the third at 51-49. However, the Blancos came back, entering the fourth up by 6 points.
With Dante Exum leaving the court after committing his 4th foul at 6:21 left in the game, Partizan Belgrade couldn’t manage to put the game under its control. Zach LeDay, the best offensive player of the night, made his team bounce back with a three-pointer at 5:20 left. However, Real Madrid kept going to get the victory in Game 4.
Following the back-to-back victories by both teams on the road, the decisive Game 5 is now scheduled for May 10 at 21:00 CET, in the WiZink Center, home of Real Madrid. The winner will face FC Barcelona, which swept Zalgiris Kaunas 3-0, in the Final Four host in Kaunas.
PHOTO CREDIT: Real Madrid Baloncesto