By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The final score was 96-89 thanks to a three by Nikola Mirotic at the buzzer, and it doesn’t tell the story of the game.
Real Madrid needed the home win against a team that had the same record and took it, improving to 17-14 and a tie with Barcelona and Paris at 17-14 between the seventh and the ninth spot, while Milan dropped to 16-15 and remains 11th for the moment in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
Dzanan Musa, with 21 points, was the top scorer of the winners, but it was Edy Tavares with 19 points and seven rebounds who set the tone early, while Usman Garumba (photo) and Facundo Campazzo added 11 points each.
“It’s very important to win at home, and now we have a very important game on the road (ed.note: in Belgrade against Crvena Zvezda) so we have to stay focused and win all the remaining games to fight for the playoffs until the end”, said Tavares in his flash interview.
Zach LeDay with 15 points, and Mirotic with 14 were the top scorers for the losing side.
Getting the job done at home
Real Madrid needed the home win against a direct contender and opened up the game with a 31-16 lead in the first quarter as the duo of Edy Tavares, with 10 points, and Usman Garuba, with eight, dominated the paint.
Things were balanced in the second period, and that didn’t change the game momentum with Sergio Llull scoring a big three at the buzzer for a 54-41 halftime lead for Madrid.
The Italians reacted in the second half, making it a four-point game (63-59) with five minutes left in the third period as Nikola Mirotic scored nine straight points.
Campazzo answered with a three (66-59), and that was the start of a 12-2 run that put Madrid back up by 14 (75-61). Milan was simply out of gas; the hosts closed the third quarter leading by 15 (78-63) and, with Musa scoring five straight points, extended their advantage to 18 (88-70) after three minutes of action in the last period. That was the end of it.
Photo credit: EuroLeague