The Valencia Basket He rediscovered this Tuesday the intensity that in these playoffs he has only had in the Fonteta e, driven by a much more energetic defense, first handcuffed and then run over a Real Madrid (85-67) that in this second game he did notice, and in what way the loss, and added Carlos Alocén to the list of players with problems for Thursday’s final game at the WiZinc Center.
A triple of Bojan Dubljevic opened the clash and also the defense of the visitors by taking out of their comfort zone Edy Tavares. That empty space allowed the locals to ‘stab’ the defense of their rival with penetrations from Klemen Prepelic. Only the points of the always effective Jayce Carroll kept Madrid (18-13, m.8).
The entry of Rudy Fernández and Fabien Causeur gave new references to those of Pablo Laso but the presence of Martin Hermannsson stirred the locals. With that higher rhythm, both teams lost rigor and Valencia took the opportunity to take their advantage beyond ten points (29-18, m.14).
Seeing that he was scoring with some ease, Valencia relaxed his defense (his pressure on the point guard mainly), which gave Madrid the option to shoot more comfortably. But unexpectedly only Usman Garuba was accurate from the line of three, which made the visitor improvement have no effect on the scoreboard because a triple by Hermannsson closed the first half with the maximum local advantage (44-29, m.20).
Guillem Vives repeated his intense departure from the first half and with his defense over Carroll, he minimized the impact that the US guard had again, sought in each attack by his team and who assumed the leadership of his team with determination.
Alocen’s muscular problems put an end to Madrid’s faith and the teenager Juan Núñez suffered despite his impudence to lead a team that has lost as directors Facu Campazzo, Nico Laprovittola, Sergio Llull, Alberto Abalde, who could return on Thursday.
With a couple of actions from Louis Labeyrie, Valencia forgot about an incipient confrontation with the referees and I face again with a good defense a placid end of the game in which Laso, after trying to play without a base, had to get hold of Alocen again to avoid an even more scandalous defeat but which was his first match lost away in the ACB this season.
Datasheet:
85 – Valencia Basket (24+20+20+21): Van Rossom (2), Vives (5), San Emeterio (4), Williams (6), Dubljevic (9) -five starters- Prepelic (11), Labeyrie (18), Tobey (13), Kalinic (6), Hermannsson (9) and Sastre (2).
67 – Real Madrid (18 + 11 + 19 + 19): Alocen (8), Carroll (13), Taylor (7), Garuba (8), Tavares (6) -five starters- Causeur (3), Núñez (-), Rudy Fernández (3), Tyus (8), Vukcevic (5) and Poirier (6).
Referees: Peruga, Perea and Sánchez Sixto. They eliminated the local Klemen Prepelic (m.39) for fouls.
Incidents: second match of the Endesa League semifinal played at the Fuente de San Luis pavilion with a capacity reduced to a thousand spectators, which was almost completed.
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