The refuge of the Israeli Maccabi has been a bargain for its rivals in the Euroleague. Oded Kattash’s team reached the sixth round without winning a match at the Alexandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade. Real Madrid, unprecedented in its case, at home, knew it was arriving in the ideal place to debut. There are six weeks left before Maccabi and Hapoel return to their fields in Tel Aviv after the ceasefire and the team was confident of achieving a victory in Serbia. In the end they became empty again due to their irregularity, due to an insane second quarter in which they conceded 40 points in ten minutes and the final sentence with a triple by Tamir Blatt (92-91).
Real Madrid improved its defense a lot at the end of the first quarter, with very good coordination to force two against one, and that allowed it to take an advantage into the second period. The difference could have been greater, but neither the feet nor the head of Facu Campazzo, guide of this team in recent years, seem as agile as always. With the losses of Sergio Llull and Andrés Feliz, Madrid suffered a lot in the direction, but the work around their basket gave them a juicy income (17-27).
Maccabi’s reaction came from the line of three. A dose of confidence to gain seriousness in defense and variety in attack that led them to a favorable 13-0 run. Lonnie Walker was devastating from the outside shot and Madrid, which had lost that defensive consistency of the first quarter, which lost many balls, little by little became uncontrolled. Mario Hezonja made efforts to support his team, but another streak in the triple in the final stretch launched Maccabi, capable of giving its rival 40 points in 10 minutes, to reach the break with relief (57-48).
Madrid, overwhelmed, entrusted everything to Mario Hezonja. A soloist at the Alexandar Nikolic Hall. But his points did not completely cure the Spanish team. Sergio Scariolo then opted to surround Super Mario more defensive profiles, such as Garuba, Abalde or Deck. That decision changed the face of the Madridistas who were able to reach the last quarter with options (76-74).
Scariolo, who left out Bruno Fernando, who did not quite fit into the group, had found a way to balance the clash. But Maccabi, who found a leader in Roman Sorkin, maintained dominance. Edy Tavares was less decisive than usual because the Israeli team had carefully studied how to get around him and minimize him. None of this intimidated the Italian coach, who has always known the importance of not losing respect for his heavyweights, as he has always done. Trust in Campazzo and Tavares allowed him to stalk Maccabi. The Argentine is far from his best moment, but no one like him knows the paths to the Cape Verde tower. . It was not Tavares’s night and he gave away the fifth personal foul in an attacking block that left his team orphaned, which continued to do its thing until equalizing the match (89-89) with one minute remaining. After 23 minutes in tow, Campazzo regained command. (89-91). But then, with everyone focused on Walker, the ball came to Blatt. The Israeli point guard didn’t care about being nine meters away, he turned, shot and sealed this European basketball classic.
