The white commando takes La Roca with 30 Supermario points

Madrid stormed La Roca and the sticky field of AS Monaco, a clear candidate for the Final Four, with its special forces, a command led by Super Mario Hezonja, who nailed 30 punches (15 in the second quarter and 5 decisive in the last 2 minutes) to achieve a great victory in a very intense game, where the offense overwhelmed the rear. rematch of the first leg, of that duel that fell into the hands of the Monegasques (94-95) after Mike James forced extra time with a 3+1 when the Merengue advantage was four. Tavares error then. The answer this Friday came with similar figures 91-95, although without extra time.

The Croatian forward broke his scoring record in white (23 in Girona) and his personal from the Euroleague (27 with Unics Kazan in Villeurbanne in November 2021), and his best valuation record. He finished with 34 credits in 34:34 after holed out 5 of 7 of two, 6 of 10 of three, two free kicks without a miss, crucial for kill the game with four seconds to go, and deliver 6 assists. No madridista reached thirty points in the Euroleague since Luka Doncic did it in Piraeus on December 8, 2017.

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A duel that had everything, including unwanted arbitral prominence and situations flawed by the Instant Replay. Beyond Hezonja, Chus Mateo’s men did many things well in attack and fought to the extreme without pivots, with Poirier eliminated in five minutes and Tavares with four personnel in tenso Edy only returned to the floor when there were two and a half and Hezonja was about to nail a triple treble for 85-90. The rebound, despite this ballast from the fouls, was white with Yabusele de fiveDeck of four and Super Mario of three (26 to 36 in rejections). The verticality of Mike James and company broke Real in some phases; however, he always redid himself with actions of enormous individual talent and at the same time sharing the ball very well (22 assists). An unstoppable sum that gave him success.

Opposite, pure overflow, that of Mike Jamesone of the great Americans of the last decade in European basketball, who unleashed 23 points with 9 of 14 from two and… scored four triples. And the fifth, who had to throw it yes or yes, split sending a pass to Blossomgame’s face. They were 88-91 and that loss was pure oxygen for the visiting squad after an arbitration error that had harmed them. We are referring to a foul not called on Tavares in an action in which, after Sasa Obradovic’s request for video review, the referees gave the ball to the home team because it could not be re-arbitrated and, indeed, Edy was the last in touching the ball. A vice of the system: Observe two resounding fouls on the screen and change the decision of the throw-in because, by not signaling them live, it only matters who sent the ball out despite conceding a couple of sticks. Then they were able to compensate… by hitting it, and they didn’t.

Llull received a foul and an immediate and unsportsmanlike second from behind without the option of playing the ball, when the whistle blew, and after the review they left him in normal staff. Like the one after Tavares, this time without video: they hit him on the arm when he had already got rid of the ball with a pass. To the line with 90-92 and 7 seconds. He hit the first one, Hall also hit one next and Hezonja didn’t. The two inside, victory to the bag. Monaco fell, Madrid is still very high, heads-up with Olympiacos in the lead.

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The game had started downhill and picked up a very high pace with AS Monaco breaking very quickly in one against one. The answer came with a very good offensive and the trick of Hezonja, who looked like a fizzy drink shaken until the stopper that contained it exploded. Triggered. Hezonja’s effervescence left us a magical second quarter for the Croatian in which he scored 15 of the 20 points he had accumulated at halftime (Until now his best record at Real was the 23 goals he scored against Girona in September to open the ACB. So, he also holed out 15 in the second act). Hezonja grew by leaps and bounds during the clash, although in reality he has been doing so in recent weeks: starting as a starter feels good for his confidence.

about Super Mario there was a lot of individual heroism with great shots, penetrations and movements to the post, but he also held back, even Motiejunas in the paint, grabbed 6 rebounds, distributed 6 basket passes and took advantage of the fear he generated in the rival to attract the defense and start two fantastic triangulations, in both with Causeur as the second vertex, the one who scored the assistance. Llull solved one of those combinations with a triple and the other, Deck under the ring, both released. At halftime, 46-50 and several new things. Williams-Goss started again and this time Chus Mateo put up with him for longer on the court. Answered; he would not do it in the third period, when the madridistas grouped 10 losses and they almost fell off the cliff pushed by a 12-0 run (58-51). The starting quintet was very physical with Hezonja and Deck as forwards, although insufficient to stop the Monegasque verticality. Half due to foul problems, half due to a technical decision, at least in the first half, the bet was to play without pivots, which left us with an unprecedented image: Tavares and Poirier sitting next to each other on the bench.

Madrid knew how to win in another way, in a magnificent way. Musa added an anthological reactivating 3+1 in the difficult third act, Llull helped with three triples and, in the decisive section, he did it with a note Hanga, the fourth to act as a base. The Hungarian pushed with two cannon shots of three, a free kick taken in an entry and always knowing how to keep his composure in the face to face with James. The team of him embraced a victory of those that leave you with a smile on your face for a couple of daysone that was decided after 18 changes in front of the scoreboardthe last alternative came with 78-80 with five minutes to go. Madrid, fist raised, would no longer give in.

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