Walter Tavares had an off night but that didn't slow Real's defense
Real Madrid showed full defensive strength in Kaunas
Article
3 Mins read
Real Madrid arrived to Kaunas in good momentum and faced the last opponent that beat Los Blancos in the competition, Zalgiris Kaunas, which registered an 83-92 victory at Movistar Arena in Round 15. Zalgiris was able to do something very important to hamper Real's defense: put Walter Tavares into foul trouble.
Tavares was limited to less than 11 minutes on the floor, finishing with 2 points, 3 rebounds, no blocks and 4 fouls. Real turned this problem into an opportunity, as Serge Ibaka, Eli Ndiaye and Usman Garuba all stepped up, seeing minutes at center and making sure Real lived up to the same defensive standards as when Tavares dominates the paint to get a good-as-gold 64-83 road win at Zalgirio Arena.
Ibaka and Garuba each had a bigger impact on the game that what stats show, fighting for every loose ball, getting deflections and making life impossible for Zalgiris's big men Alen Smailagic, Laurynas Birutis and Bryant Dunston. Ibaka finished the game with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 4 fouls. He scored 9 of those points in a second quarter in which Real entered trailing 26-15 and finished leading 34-35.
Garuba added 4 points and 2 rebounds. Even though Garuba, Tavares and Ibaka combined for 13 fouls committed, Real still went to the foul line more times (26) than Zalgiris (22), which says plenty about its overall intensity and rhythm. Ndiaye excelled in many aspects of the game, finishing the game with 6 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals for a PIR of 16, which matched his career-high, in less than 14 minutes.
Smailagic scored 7 of his 9 points for Zalgiris in the final 7 minutes, when his team trailed 46-68. Dunston and Birutis combined for 6 points and 1 rebounds as Real ended up outrebounding Zalgiris by 31-40.
"Congratulations to Real. We were not able to play anything on offense. When at this level, you are not able to get open, it is very difficult to play," Zalgiris head coach Andrea Trincheri said. "We were very slow, and then we lost confidence, and they were better. They deserved to win."
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After a good first quarter in which Zalgiris made 6 of 11 three-pointers and led 10-7 in rebounds, Real improved its defense and went on to dominate the game. In the last three quarters, Zalgiris was limited to 34 points on 9-of-21 two-point shooting (42.9% 2FG), 2-of-17 three-point shooting (11.8% 3FG) and 11 turnovers. The hosts missed Sylvain Francisco, who played less than 3 minutes due to a sprained ankle. All that allowed Real to seal the outcome and the potential tie-break advantage long before the final buzzer.
"We played very good defense after the first half, and we knew how to control the game. If we are defending their three-pointers and control the rebounds, these are key points against this team," Real head coach Chus Mateo said. "Once we start to play defense, we could run. Once we got the advantage we were able to read the game really well and control it until the end."
It is bad news for the rest of the competition; even without Tavares, Real shined on defense thanks to Garuba, Ibaka and Ndiaye. That is a frontline that could pay dividends in crunch time this season.