The 26-year-old swingman stood out against his former team
Dzanan Musa takes over to lead Dubai over Real Madrid
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 27 of 38
Regular Season
Dubai BasketballDUB
9385
Real MadridRMB
Overview
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Everyone knew it was going to be a special game for the ever-ambitious Dzanan Musa. Dubai Basketball was hosting Real Madrid in Round 27, giving Musa his first chance to play against Los Blancos since leaving the club at the end of the last season. In his three years with Real, Musa won the 2023 EuroLeague championship, five domestic titles and earned 2022-23 All-EuroLeague First Team honors.
Playing against some of his best friends in basketball didn't prevent Musa from leading Dubai to a good-as-gold 93-85 home win over Real. Musa suffered a knee injury on October 6 during his team's Adriatic League opener which caused him to miss 20 EuroLeague Regular Season games. Dubai was cautious with Musa and gave him limited playing time after returning. After playing over 32 minutes in his team's 108-98 overtime win over Olympiacos Piraeus two days ago, it was crystal clear that Musa was ready to take the challenge against Los Blancos. Musa greeted his former teammates warmly before the game, but when the basketball went up for the opening tip, he left all that behind.
"Crazy, crazy emotional game for me," Musa said. "Very big respect to Real Madrid. I was with them three years, won a lot of titles. They are my family, so it was a very emotional game. I wish them all the best in the season. But we showed this week against Olympiacos and against Real Madrid, against the best teams in Europe, that we can compete and beat them. So we have to build on this. I'm very proud of the guys."
Musa played a critical role in the first quarter, in which Dubai struggled to score. Musa scored 8 of his team's 11 points. After 10 minutes, Real led 11-19 and Dubai had been limited to 4-of-15 field-goal shooting. The shots eventually started to fall for the hosts, as Filip Petrusev and Aleksa Avramovic combined for 19 points in 5 minutes to put their team ahead, 32-29.
Real built a 37-44 halftime lead, outrebounding Dubai 18-25 before the break. Los Blancos extended it to 52-64 and seemed to be in full control of the game. Dubai went on an 11-0 run led by Bruno Caboclo, who started to find advantages against Alex Len. Caboclo buried a three-pointer and had a big block on David Kramer which allowed him to strike from downtown again.
With the game on the line, it was Musa's turn to finish what he started. His three-point play gave Dubai a 69-68 lead at the end of the third quarter. He scored 9 points in the final 4 minutes, burying a critical three-pointer and remaining ice cold from the free-throw line to keep Dubai fully in charge until the final buzzer.
Musa finished the game with 20 points on 4-of-6 two-point shooting, 1-of-2 on three-pointers and 9-of–9 on free throws for a PIR of 25. Petrusev and McKinley Wright each added 16 points while Dwayne Bacon scored 15, including an off-balance basket that sealed the deal, 90-83, already in the final minute. Facu Campazzo paced Real with 24 points.
"We know that we have a talent to come back from any deficit. But at this point, against Real Madrid, you have to play 40 minutes like this. We did and I'm very proud of the guys. As I said, it's not easy with all this traveling and stuff. I'm very proud of the coach, of the staff, of the players," Musa added. "And we hope that we can continue like this. Of course, now [we have] a game in Milan, and every game is like a final for us. These 13 rounds, we won two. Let's get another 11."
