Walter’s exhibit Tavares and Usman Garuba, the absolute dominance in the rebound and the triples of Fabien Causeur they allowed the Real
Madrid forget about your injury problems, and get ahead in the semi-finals of the League Endesa to a soul Valencia
Basket that, although he tried, he paid dearly for his bad start and was unable to overcome a rival who again had the support of his audience fifteen months later (81-70).
The Cape Verdean pivot, with 17 points, 11 rebounds, a stopper and a PIR of 25, and his young position partner (6, 12, 3 and 17) were key to dominating from start to finish a game marked by the abysmal rebound difference (52-33) and in which the success of the French was also key Fabien
Causeur, author of 24 points and five triples.
The whites came out in a rush, with a couple of more marches than their opponent and the ideas much clearer, which allowed them to distance themselves from the first attack thanks to their dominance under hoops and their greater success from all positions, with Tavares like stiletto in paint and Jeffery Taylor doing damage from the perimeter.
In front of Valencia nothing came out. It took him three and a half minutes to wake up and score his first basket in play and he looked overwhelmed with every action, forcing him to Jaume
Ponsarnau to stop the game at five and a half minutes to reorder their systems and introduce three changes that would avoid greater evils.
A 0-6 partial in their favor seemed to put the Levantines in the clash, although Real Madrid continued to bite back and score at a great pace, which allowed them to close the first quarter with eleven rental points, better sensations on the court and the debut in ACB of the young youth squad Juan Nunez as more positive aspects (25-14, min 10).
To the fight of Garuba and the good direction of Carlos Alocen the success of Causeur, who wrote down everything he threw and kept the situation under control, although in front of Bojan Dubljevic, with eight consecutive points, tightened the score soon after. The Valencia
Basket It offered better sensations than at the beginning, but it was not enough to counteract the strength of the whites and the success from the triple of the white players (40-26, min 17).
Every mistake of the players of Jaume
Ponsarnau was punished by the leader of the regular phase, who continued with the clearest ideas and several players on a winning streak, until, for the second time, the taronjas reacted when they had worse and with a 0-8 in their favor they pressed the meeting. Although they lost by 16 points, they were able to rebuild to take the second quarter and minimize damage at halftime (44-38, min 20).
As soon as the game resumed, a front triple by Mike Tobey shot the Valencia
Basket. It was a mirage because again Garuba Y TavaresImmense in defense and decisive in the offensive rebound, they again opened the gap with their recital under hoops. The Spanish pivot multiplied on both sides of the court in a new display of pride that spread to his teammates.
The taronjas tried but did not have their afternoon. Without rebound or outside success and without the points of Prepelic Y Kalinic, they were deflated with the passage of the minutes. His bad decisions in attack translated into his scant eight points in the third quarter and penalized him excessively because the Real
Madrid he continued to his own and, based on defense, he was able to reach the last ten minutes with the crash on track (58-46, min 30).
As soon as the final act begins, Rudy Fernández joined the injured list in Pablo Laso’s team and had to retire to the bench, while Labeyrie, with a play of 3 + 1, he was reluctant to give up the first point of the series. Real Madrid did not get nervous, and kept pulling their players more fit to keep the situation under control.
The game lasted until the end in an inconsequential exchange of blows that allowed Pablo Laso’s men to seal the first triumph of the semifinals that will live their second chapter on Tuesday in Valencia without shocks. A new white victory would give them the ticket to the final, while if Valencia ties the series, everything would be decided on Thursday at the WiZink
Center.
[+] See the summary with the best plays:
Data sheet
81.- Real Madrid (25 + 19 + 14 + 23): Alocén (7), Carroll (8), Taylor (13), Garuba (6) and Tavares (17) -the starting five-, Rudy Fernández (-), Causeur (24), Poirier (2), Nuñez (2), Vukcevic (-) and Tyus (2).
70.- Valencia Basket (14 + 24 + 8 + 24): Van Rossom (7), Sastre (3), Kalinic (6), Williams (2) and Tobey (8) -five starters- Prepelic (4), Labeyrie (11), Dubljevic (10), Hermannsson (11), Pradilla (4), San Emeterio (4) and Vives (-).
Referees: Emilio Pérez Pizarro, Jordi Aliaga and Luis Miguel Castillo. Without eliminated
Incidents: First match of the Endesa League semifinals, best of three, played at a WiZink Center that, almost fifteen months later, had an audience in its stands, although with a capacity reduced to a thousand spectators due to restrictions by COVID 19.