By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The heart of the champions and a big three by Sergio Rodriguez made the difference for Real Madrid in the close 82-79 win over Brose Baskets.
The Germans proved in the first half that they knew how to contain Madrid, but “El Chacho” had a stellar game with 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 8 assists. He scored all of his points in the second half and his last three decided the outcome.
Brose Baskets had the game under control during the first half, keeping Real Madrid to 30 points and scoring 40. Defense was the key, as Real couldn’t get any easy baskets and that led to frustration. The German champs led by 12 points (42-30) after the first shot of the second half, but things changed after that.
It was time for the Euroleague champs to make their run and with Sergio Rodriguez getting hot, Real got a 69-62 lead with five minutes left. Ηowever, Brose Baskets didn’t give up. With 2.49′ left the score was tied at 70-70 and everything was still possible.
The biggest shot of the game was made by Sergio Rodriguez who made a three with 49 seconds left and gave a three points lead to Real Madrid (80-77). Bradley Wanamaker from the foul line made it a one point game (80-79) with 8 seconds left and Andres Nocioni was fouled in order for the clock to stop. The veteran Argentinian forward made his two free throws (82-79) and Wanamaker missed the chance at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.