By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
As sir Charles Barkley once said, there’s nothing more exciting that the final two minutes of a basketball game, but we have to say final seven minutes. That’s exactly what happened in the Euroleague final, the first one since 1969 which was decided in overtime. Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Real Madrid (98-86) and completed a Cinderella story.
With two minutes left and the scored being tied 69-69, David Blu and Tyrese Rice gave a 4 points cushion to Maccabi Tel Aviv with one minute left. Sergio Rodriguez and Giannis Bourousis answered with 4/4 free throws and Tyrese Rice missed the potential winning shot. In the extra five minutes, Rice got his revenge by giving to Maccabi Tel Aviv a 85-79 lead with two and a half minutes left. That was it! Real Madrid couldn’t mount a come back and Maccabi for the sixth time in its history became Euroleague champion.
Rice with 26 points was the top scorer and of course the MVP, while τhe season MVP Sergio Rodriguez had 21 points for Real Madrid.