By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid had to beat LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and despite some hiccups in the end, did in style.
The final score was 81-70 with Edy Tavares stealing the show not only by his defensive presence but also by scoring 23 points.
“I just know we have to win every game and now we have four finals”, said Tavares after the game, “that’s the main goal, to be in the playoffs and make it to the Final Four”.
Sergio Llull added 12 points as Real Madrid improved to 16-14 and is tied at the moment with Milan between the 9th and 10th spot in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings. Plus Gabriel Deck after returning from injury played his first EuroLeague game since Round 18, finishing the night with three points and five rebounds.
Theo Maledon scored 25 points for the French side, which dropped to 11-19 and is out of the play-ins race.
Finishing in the first quarter
Real Madrid wanted to finish their business as soon as possible and did exactly that.
They started the game with a 15-0 run and when ASVEL trimmed the lead to nine points (17-8) they closed the first period with a 15-2 run, building a 22-point advantage (32-10).
ASVEL couldn’t get back into the game after that, trailing by 18 points at halftime (52-34) and by 23 points (62-39) after four minutes of action in the third period.
However, the hosts entered the last period leading by 15 (68-53) and believed that the game was already over.
As a result, ASVEL with a 10-3 run in six minutes of action managed to make it an eight-point game (71-63). The answer was a three by Hezonja and a shot by Sergio Llull to put the lead back to 13 points (76-63) cutting short the comeback dreams of ASVEL.
PHOTO CREDIT: EuroLeague