BarcelonaWithout an antidote to Edy Tavares, Barça lost to Real Madrid (81-74) and were left without options to revalidate the Endesa League title (1-3). After two years of chewing sand, the white team won the trophy against a Barça rival with more courage than energy and success. The pivot, who added 25 points, 13 rebounds and 7 fouls, tore the inside game of a Catalan team that in the final stretch of the season has not been up to par.
Barça’s fourth game was a summary of the last two and a half months, a period in which the Barça team lost its balance in their game. Between Nico Laprovittola, Cory Higgins and Brandon Davies, who has his head elsewhere, they only scored 10 points, a figure insufficient to accompany the effort of players like Nikola Mirotic (14 points) or Nick Calathes (12 points and 9 rebounds).
“We have to congratulate Real Madrid, which during the final has been better than us. Today we played much better, but the small details always decide these matches,” said Sarunas Jasikevicius. The Lithuanian coach, who suffered his first major disappointment on the Catalan bench, again opted for Dante Exum and ruled out Nigel Hayes-Davis. The other player who was left out of the call was Pierre Oriola, who continues to have discomfort in the lower back.
“We had a very difficult year. We were persevering and we always fought for victory. We knew we could do it, but the year has been very hard. I am very excited because we have lived the last days with a lot of tension. We dedicate it to him. the victory for the best coach in Europe, Pablo Laso “, said Chus Mateo, who has led the white team with solvency during the title fight. The Basque coach, who suffered a heart attack a few days ago, was in charge of lifting the Madrid trophy. Very emotional night for the white story.
The staging of Real Madrid was very effective. The white team took advantage of the fact that Barça only scored two points in the first seven minutes of play to open the fourth game with a difference of seven points (9-2). The dominance in the rebound was again overwhelming. Despite losing too many balls, the Barça team settled their game and adjusted the score (13-10).
The local income grew to 14 points at the start of the second period (24-10), when Sertaç Sanli and Brandon Davies were charged with three personal fouls each. The match plan was torn apart by Edy Tavares. Barça made adversity a virtue and took advantage of Nikola Mirotic’s inner combination with Rolands Smits to gain in mobility. The Barça team reacted and took advantage of an exciting 5/8 in triples to close the quarter with a partial 10-23 that equalized the result (34-33).
No continuity in efforts
The third quarter was again very uncomfortable for Barça. Smits joined the group of Catalan players with three personal fouls. Madrid extended and reduced their advantage (55-48) against a Barça rival who never gave up and who was able to turn the score around before reaching the last ten minutes (55-56).
Without continuity in the game, Barça reached the last four minutes with a negative income of 8 points (69-61). The arrival of Fabien Causeur, who scored 8 points in the last period, ended up sinking the hopes of a Barça that will have to rethink its project.
