Chus Mateo's squad won for the first time away from Madrid in the EuroLeague this season
Real Madrid gets back on track with 2OT win over Barcelona, 90-97
It took double overtime, but Real Madrid managed to come out on top in the 37th edition of El Clásico this century after downing FC Barcelona 90-97 at Palau Blaugrana. Big players step up in the big games and that is what happened for Los Blancos in Round 12's Rivalry Series game, with Walter Tavares, Facundo Campazzo and Mario Hezonja all coming to the fore in crucial moments for the visitors, who won for the first time on the road this season after going 0-5 away from WiZink Center before Thursday night. For Barcelona, it has now lost three straight games in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Tavares posted a 24-point, 18-rebound double-double and Campazzo also finished with an 18-point, 10-assist double-double, while Hezonja netted 23 points. For Barcelona, Kevin Punter netted 27 points, Jan Vesely scored 20 points, and Jabari Parker chipped in with 11 points.
Game Videos
Real Madrid got off to a good start and took a 4-8 lead on a pair of triples by Xavier Rathan-Mayes, before Hezonja added 4 points to put the visitors 6-14 ahead. Then, Vesely displayed his quality by scoring 8 points for Barcelona in an 8-2 run that got the hosts within reach of Los Blancos, 14-17. With 0.4 seconds remaining in the quarter, however, Youssoupha Fall fouled Serge Ibaka and was given a technical foul, which Real Madrid took advantage of to find itself 17-22 ahead after 10 minutes.
Dario Brizuela had an integral role in giving Barcelona its first lead since the opening basket, draining a three-pointer and then finding Juan Nunez for a layup to make it 24-22. The momentum was suddenly in the Azulgrana's favor, and the introduction of new signing Raul Neto paid immediate dividends with the Brazilian scoring 5 points in a hurry to set a 31-25 score. The energy of Justin Anderson was seeing him earn lots of plaudits from the crowd, and Barcelona netted the last 5 points of the quarter to take a 38-34 advantage into the break.
In the third quarter, Hezonja showed why he has the Super Mario nickname by scoring Real Madrid's first 12 points to give Chus Mateo's team a 45-46 lead. Campazzo's three capped a 10-0 Real Madrid run that made it a 45-49 ballgame, but back-to-back mid-range makes by Brizuela leveled the score. Barcelona went back in front after a hustle play by Brizuela resulted in Nunez finding Alex Abrines for a three-pointer, 52-51, but Hezonja responded to that triple by knocking down one of his own in the final score of the period, 52-54.
There was almost nothing to separate the two teams in the fourth quarter, as Vesely continued to cause headaches for Real Madrid and Punter started to get hot, scoring from mid-range, hitting a triple and going 3 for 3 from the line to put the Azulgrana 69-66 in front with 1:44 left. Tavares was leaving his fingerprints all over the game and three-point play with 52 seconds remaining made it 70-69, then Punter hit back by making 2 free throws to make it a three-point difference, 72-69. Tavares's layup with 9 seconds left made things interesting, 72-71, but Parker kept his cool from the line to knock down a pair of free throws. Yet, with 1 second left, Campazzo struck from three-point land to silence the Palau Blaugrana crowd and send the game to overtime, 74-74.
The first overtime session saw Real Madrid score the first four points, going 74-78 ahead, but Punter and Vesely refused to let the visitors pull away, combining to make it 78-79. A shootout followed, with Punter hitting a three-pointer, Tavares dunking, and Punter scoring from mid-range. Campazzo followed by scoring a layup, but Punter could only go 1 of 2 from the line, with the score 84-84 at the end of the first overtime period.
In the second overtime session, it was Barcelona that got off the mark first after Tavares was called for goaltending, but Hezonja scored a pretty turnaround jumper off the glass to make it 86-86, and Tavares's put-back dunk gave Real Madrid the lead at 87-88. Parker gave Barcelona fans hope with a three-pointer to nudge the hosts 90-89 ahead, but Real Madrid went on an 8-0 run with Campazzo scoring 4 to come away with a 90-97 victory.