Endesa League | A struggling Girona puts Real Madrid on the ropes in the return of Marc Gasol to the ACB

The Girona venue presented a full house to witness the premiere of Básquet Girona in the ACB, with more than 5,000 souls in the stands. And the local team caught the atmosphere to start dominating the encounter Serbian Dusan Miletic won the opening jump and Marc Gasolcenter and president, scored on his return to the ACB the first points of the 2022-2023 season and of the club’s history in the highest category from beyond the line of three.

Kameron Taylor doubled the distance with a 2+1, before Guerschon Yabusele opened the away locker. But despite the ambition of the French power forward (he scored 6 of the first 8 points for the visitors), the start of the match was clearly dominated by the locals. Especially Gasol and Taylor, who chained two triples to place a 14-5 in the electronic. Madrid struggled to score (5 points in the first six minutes), while Girona established its maximum advantage: 17-5 after a very participatory jump shot by Taylor, and 20-8 after a three-pointer by Aleksandar Bursac. Girona dreamed of his own.

But Chus Mateo’s players reacted on time to soften the result, with three consecutive triples signed by Petr Cornelie, Mario Hezonja and Sergio Llull to close the first ten minutes three points behind (20-17, min 10). The absolute protagonist of the second period was Hezonja. Two triples in a row by the Croatian forward put Madrid ahead for the first time all night (26-27). He reached 15 points in the second quarter, just one less than a whole Girona that lost the success and threaded several attacks without scoring while the visiting team submitted him in each attack.

The whites lined up to 28 units in the second period. Also joining the triple party were the Bosnian Dzanan Musa and Sergio Rodríguez, who set the maximum visitor income of the first act in ten points (32-39). Halftime was reached with 36-45 on the Fontajau score, with a superior Madrid thanks to their success from the outside and a very combative Girona that did not lose face.

The American escort Taylor broke the ten-point barrier as soon as he returned to the parquet from the booth (40-47). Musa returned the difference to the ten (40-50) with Madrid’s umpteenth three-pointer, but Girona, under the baton of Taylor, recovered the pulse with a 9-0 run to reach 49-51 with a basket from Eric Vila. Vila himself reduced the Madrid cushion to a single point four minutes from the end of the third quarter (55-56), although Llull calmed the local momentum with a distant three-pointer, a house mark. And Hezonja, unstoppable from the shot, imposed his wrist again to close the third period with a 12-point lead, Madrid’s maximum so far (57-69, min 30).

Girona never stopped fighting, they fell four down (72-76) and made Real Madrid doubt, to the point that Musa celebrated his third triple (72-79) sending the stands to silence with the finger. He was punished with a technique, but Girona, despite signing a hopeful game, could no longer change or avoid Madrid’s final joy, confirmed from the perimeter.

Hezonja, with 23 points, was the most outstanding player of the game and the top scorer, followed by Taylor (22), Gasol (21), Yabusele (17), Musa (15) and Miletic (13).