Los Blancos started the game on fire, which put them in a great position to advance to the championship game
Perfect first quarter underlined Real Madrid’s status as favorite
If anyone headed to Berlin this weekend doubted Real Madrid’s status as the favorite for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title, it only took 10 minutes of action for Los Blancos to emphatically show exactly why they are still the team to beat.
Having won last season’s championship, dominated the regular season to comfortably claim top-seed status, and then become the only team to breeze through the playoffs with a 3-0 series sweep, there was no real reason to think that Chus Mateo’s men are anything other than the main candidates to lift the trophy on Sunday.
And in the opening quarter of Friday’s semifinal meeting with Olympiacos Piraeus, the Spanish team issued a serious statement of intent by showing exactly how good it is with a near-perfect basketball exhibition at both ends of the floor.
Starting from the moment when Walter Tavares opened the scoring by finishing a flowing fastbreak with a fierce flush, right until Fabien Causeur rose with perfect timing to block a shot from Nigel Williams-Goss as the first quarter expired, Real was totally dominant in every aspect of the game to establish a dominant 28-10 advantage that set the scene for an eventual 87-76 triumph.
Real’s first quarter numbers speak for themselves: 5 of 8 shots converted from two-point range, 6 of 8 from beyond the arc, 8 assists, 10 rebounds against just 5 for Olympiacos, and 3 blocked shots. That all added up to a staggering difference in team PIR of 42-1, accurately reflecting the dominance of the reigning champion and the helplessness of the Greek challenger in the face of such brilliance.
Real then maintained that scoring pace to reach the interval with a 56-37 advantage, tying the Final Four record for the most points scored in the first half (alongside Montepaschi Siena in the 2004 third-place game against CSKA Moscow). And remarkably, that total was achieved despite no individual player reaching double digits in scoring, typifying the collective mentality championed after the game by Mateo.
“Nobody is the star,” the Real coach said. “The team is the star. This is something the players know perfectly. The most important thing is the team. They fight together, rebound together, run together, play defense together. This is what they did today.”
Veteran point guard Sergio Rodriguez did not seem particularly surprised as he reflected on his team’s sensational start, noting: “You always want to make a statement at the start of the game. We were ready. We were very focused, we felt that during the week when we were preparing for the game. We were a little nervous, a little anxious, but in a good way, and we showed it from the beginning. We were making baskets, rebounding the ball, we had energy and everybody was focused. It was very good.”
Real’s big men dominated the latter stages of the opening period, as Tavares scored twice close to the basket and Guerschon Yabusele added the last 5 points for a 9-0 run in the last 3 minutes, with aggressive team defense totally shutting down Olympiacos at the other end.
And Yabusele admitted his team made a special effort to start the game strong, saying: “We knew this was a tough Olympiacos team, so we had to set the tone. Our fight in the first half set us up for the second half. Even though we made some mistakes, we had so many points in advance.”
Although Olympiacos did indeed battle hard to reduce the deficit to single digits in the final quarter, the lead established by Real’s early perfection proved too much to overturn.
The leading scorer in the opening quarter blitz was Mario Hezonja with 9 points, and he believed establishing an early double-digit margin was an important factor in the victory: “It gave us a cushion, a little bit of comfort,” he said, also reflecting the confidence in the Real ranks as he added. “There is never any doubt in our team. We have heart, we have experience, we have a hunger for these games, and we are going for another trophy.”
Hezonja and his teammates certainly are going for another trophy, and if they can repeat their first quarter performance in Sunday’s title decider, they will have a great chance of succeeding.