Baskonia beat Madrid with a huge second quarter

A sensational second quarter catapulted Baskonia to its 11th EuroLeague victory. The partial of that period was 35-15, with an unleashed Howard who scored from three, in penetrations and even assisted without looking. The pavilion was full there were musical performances and the party was total. Raieste was ruled out and Rudy, as expected, was sitting on the bench but wearing a sweatshirt. In the end, Kurucs did not play either, he did not enjoy minutes.

The entry of Dani Díez into the initial quintet was surprising and also, in Madrid, the presence of the starting Chacho. Things started very even (6-6, min. 3) with Baskonia scoring triples and Madrid getting dunks. External exuberance before internal power. Chus Mateo’s men stretched the rubber a bit with the 8-13 but the local team had muscle and talent to get closer on the scoreboard.

The second act was crazy. Good defense from Cazoo, mastery of the rebound, fast transitions and everyone scoring, especially Markus Howard who went to the locker room with 21 points. Peñarroya saw a technique but that did not prevent the escape from Álava. There was a run of 32-6. Madrid went to rest asking for the time and with the feeling that they were living a nightmare.

But whoever thinks that the white team is erased from the parties is wrong from start to finish. With a great Tavares (15 points and 10 rebounds at the end of the third quarter) he narrowed the gap (60-65, min. 26). Deck became a great squire and the positive surprise was the great offensive effectiveness of Williams-Goss. As soon as the last act began, the whites were already blowing on the back of the Peñarroya team (73-71, min. 32).

In any case, this Cazoo has the strange ability to relativize complicated situations and move very well in the mud. Giedraitis, with two key triples and the direction of Henry and Thompson closed the game. Howard continued to score, albeit more intermittently (86-78, min. 37). Cornelie missed a key triple from the corner, the game was eternalized by television reviews and free throws but the local team knew how to hold their breath and add one more victory. He is the leader waiting for the rest of the day. Look askance at Monaco, Barcelona and Fenerbahçe.