


In a thrilling Turkish Airlines EuroLeague version of El Clásico, Real Madrid needed overtime to beat archrivals FC Barcelona 91-86 in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Real improved to 14-7 in the standings while Barca dropped to 13-6. Since overtime points don't count for tie-breakers, and Barca grabbed a two-point, non-overtime win against Los Blancos in Round 2, it would have the tie-break advantage over Los Blancos (1-1, +2) at the end of the regular season.
Dzanan Musa made the difference in the game, scoring half of his 18 points in overtime to propel Real to the win. Gabriel Deck led the winners with 23 points, while Sergio Llull added 19 and Walter Tavares 10 for Los Blancos. Nikola Mirotic led Barca with 17 points. Jan Vesely and Tomas Satoransky each added 12 while Cory Higgins got 10 for the guests, who saw their three-game road winning streak come to an end. Barca led 50-59 after three quarters but was outscored 41-27 in the fourth quarter and OT.
Satoransky got Barca going with a three-pointer, then Vesely added a jumper and a couple of layups in transition for a 2-9 lead. Nico Laprovittola's three-pointer soon made it a double-digit game, 6-18. Musa and an outstanding Deck brought Real within 16-20 after 10 minutes. Alex Abrines struck from downtown to boost his team's lead to 16-25. Deck kept pacing Real, getting help from Tavares and Musa to get the hosts within 28-31. Laprovittola fed James Nnaji for an alley-oop dunk and followed Satoransky's triple with a bomb from beyond the arc, good for a 32-39 Barca lead at halftime.
Mirotic and Laprovittola quickly restored a double-digit Barca lead, 34-44, soon after the break. Deck and Sergio Rodriguez fueled an 8-0 run that made it a two-point game, 42-44. Nikola Kalinic stepped up with back-to-back three-pointers, getting help from Satoransky and Higgins to restore a 50-59 Barca lead after 30 minutes. Deck and Llull stepped up to put Real in charge, 69-67, with over 3 minutes remaining. Higgins single-handedly but Barca in charge, 69-73, but Hezonja hit an off-balance shot and Llull added free throws to send the game to overtime, 73-73.
Musa stepped up early in overtime with a driving layup, a pair of free throws and an off-balance, one-handed jumper that forced Barca to call timeout at 81-76. Musa ignited the crowd with a bomb from downtown but Barca got within 87-84 on a jumper by Mirotic. Llull drew a couple of fouls and hit 4 of 4 free throws to put Real's victory on ice!