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Game Blog: Real hangs on to edge Barca and reach championship game!
Real survives thrilling finish
The last 15 seconds weren’t pretty, as Real missed 2 free throws, but Yabusele claimed a critical offensive rebound that helped Los Blancos hold on. Twice Barcelona had the ball down 3 and got two-point baskets – one by Alex Abrines and another from Dante Exum, but it wasn’t enough and Mirotic’s prayer at the buzzer was not close. Real survived a thrilling finish to advance to a championship-game showdown with Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
Causeur answers the call again
Causeur, he of the big third quarter, turned the game on its head again with 5 straight points. After a Real timeout, Causeur knocked down a triple and then stripped Laprovittola and raced for a layup. All in the span of 42 seconds.
Mirotic, Laprovittola rally the Blaugrana
The Real lead reached 7 a few times, Mirotic refused to allow Barca to falter and helped his team claw the margin to 4 a few times, but Real kept answering the challenge. Then Laprovittola took charge with a pair of three-pointers to make it 73-75. Davies missed 2 free throws, but Mirotic put back the second to tie it at 75-75 with 2:43 to play.
Final Four milestone for Llull
With a three-pointer with 1:13 left in the third quarter, Sergio Llull not only put Real up 56-58, but moved into fourth place all-time in Final Four scoring. That three-pointer got his all-time Final Four tally to 173 points, as he passed Trajan Langdon who has 172. Next in front is Nando De Colo, who has 179 career points in Final Four games. In addition, Llull has 2 assists for the night and is 1 shy of tying his former teammate Sergio Rodriguez for third place on the all-time Final Four charts with 56 assists. The all-time leader is Theo Papaloukas (59).
Causeur leads comeback
Real Madrid went on a 2-17 charge to take a 56-60 lead at the end of the third quarter and the man of the moment was Fabien Causeur. The veteran guard scored 9 of those points, including 5 free throws and a steal and layup for the last basket of the quarter. Barca big lead is a thing of the past and we could be staring at another tight finish.
That run led to Real outscoring Barca 11-26 in the third quarter. The 15-point difference was the third-largest in the third quarter ever at a Final Four game. The largest was also in a Clasico; Real outscored Barca 11-28 in the third quarter of the 2014 semifinals in Milan.
Hanga sits with 4 fouls
No Real player was more important than Adam Hanga in the first half. In the 9:50 minutes that he played, Los Blancos outscored Barca by 10 points. In the 10:10 he was on the bench, Real was outscored by 21. Part of the reason he played so little was because he was in foul trouble. Hanga was whistled for his 4th foul with 5:52 on the clock in the third quarter and found himself back on the bench. This happened just after Real shows signs of a rally by closing within 6 on an Albert Abalde triple.
Rebounding numbers are favoring Barcelona
Barcelona outrebounded Real, the top rebounding team during the season, 21-17 during the first half with the freshly-crowned MVP, Nikola Mirotic, leading the way with 6. Tavares, who was second in the league with 7.6 boards per game, did not have any in his 11 first-half minutes. Barca turned its rebounding advantage into 8 second-chance points. Real had 5. Barcelona also won the battle of the boards in its two regular-season wins against Real.
Davies steps up for Barca
With the teams neck and neck at the middle of the second quarter, Brandon Davies is coming up big for Barca. His show-stopping slam over Vincent Poirier tied it at 27-27 and his next basket gave his team a 31-29 lead. He later grabbed a rebound, led the ball up in transition and found Laprovittola for a three that stretched the lead to 33-39 and prompted a Real timeout. Meanwhile, Barca has turned to a zone defense against Tavares that has had mixed results so far.
Rudy makes emotional three
Rudy Fernandez is playing his first game since his father passed away recently after a lengthy illness. After Fernandez drilled a three-pointer early in the second quarter that gave Los Blancos a 20-25 lead, he pointed to the sky in what seemed to be a tribute to his late father.
Yabusele helps Real to strong start
After a strong start from Yabusele, who scored 10 of Real's first 14 points, Barcelona answered with an 11-2 run taking the ball to the rim and attacking the offensive glass. Barcelona has 4 offensive rebounds and just 1 three-point attempt in the first quarter, a second-chance shot Mirotic made.
Williams-Goss suffers early injury
Whatever game plans Real had suffered an early hit when point guard Nigel Williams-Goss seemed to injury his ankle while dribbling just 31 seconds into the game. He had to be helped off the floor and after be looked at quickly by the team’s medical staff, was carried back to the locker room with a grimace on his face.
Real goes small at tip
In the last few days, there was much talk about the potential – or lack thereof – for surprises in this seventh meeting between Barca and Real this season. Well, Coach Pablo Laso didn’t wait long to pull one out of his hat. Guerschon Yabusele started at center with All-EuroLeague First Team center Walter Tavares on the bench for the first time all season. Tavares had started in all 33 of his appearances this season.