Another ill-timed knee injury will keep the Argentinian forward from the season's pinnacle event.
Real's Deck injured, to miss Final Four again
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For the second year in a row, Real Madrid looks set to be missing Gabriel Deck at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four.
Deck, 29, has been diagnosed with a right knee ligament tear, the club announced on Saturday, less than 24 hours after he left a Spanish League game against Valencia Basket in the fourth quarter with an injured knee. He and teammated Geurschon Yabusele collided while contesting a rebound. Real eventually lost the game, 99-93.
Deck had been averaging 9.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in EuroLeague play over 28 appearances this season. He had missed seven games in December and January due to injury.
"We are worried. It was ugly. He twisted his knee. We hope it's nothing but he's in pain and he left on crutches," Real head coach Chus Mateo said right after Friday night's game. "It's a shame became we had taken came of him all year long so that he'd arrive well to the end of the season, and now the same thing happens to him that happened last year."
A year ago, in Game 4 of Real's eventual playoff series win against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, Deck suffered a similar injury to his other, left knee, and missed the Final Four, where his team was crowned champion. Deck did not play again last season.
The loss of the tough and versatile forward will add another test to the challenge Real faces at the Final Four in Berlin which begins on Friday, May 24, with a semifinals showdown against Olympiacos Piraeus, the team that Real beat in last season's championship game on a shot by Sergio Llull in the waning seconds to win the EuroLeague title.
In the German capital, Real will be attempting to win back-to-back European crowns for the first time in more than half a century while at the same time becoming the first regular season winner to lift the EuroLeague trophy since the competition's move to a round-robin format in 2016.
"We're going to move forward, with desire and spirit, trying to do things well from now until the finish, battling to the maximum to deliver our best and end a season that began so well the way it deserves, trying to reach the finals and win the titles," Mateo said on Saturday. "Let's hope it ends like that."