By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With five players scoring in double figures Real Madrid defeated Darussafaka Dogus 89 – 78 in Istanbul, winning the series 3 – 1 and advancing to the EuroLeague Final Four for fourth time in the last five seasons.
Once again Pablo Laso’s players had to withstand a comeback by their opponents that chewed their way back from a 17-point deficit, 65 – 82 in four minutes, making it 86 – 82 with 2 minutes remaining.
But Sergio Llull took it personally, dropping five consecutive points to make it a double-digit match once more. There was no time in the clock neither strength in Dacka players to return.
Llull finished the match with a team-high 17 points plus 5 assists, while Anthony Randolph and x-factor Trey Thompkins notched 15 points each. Jaycee Carroll had 11 but the top performer for the “Blancos” was Luka Doncic who posted 11 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
Brad Wanamaker had 25 points plus 5 assists for Dacka with Scottie Wilbekin adding 14. Despite their defensive struggles that put them behind early in the match, the hosts remained relatively close until near the end third quarter.
With the score 58 – 65 a sequence two technical fouls given on Luke Haragondy and David Blatt granted Real the opportunity to increase its lead 58 – 70 and set the pace for getting it up to 17 in the fourth quarter.
Clyburn’s and Wanamaker’s aggressiveness tried to keep their team alive but to no avail since Real had the last word and the qualification to the Final Four for the first time in 2015.
It will be a deja-vu for the Blancos, since they will also meet Fenerbahce in the semifinal this time.