Real Madrid ends its bad streak and ties the series against La Laguna Tenerife

Real Madrid won this Thursday by a large 83-118 in their visit to La Laguna Tenerife for the second game of their quarter-final tie in the Endesa League playoffs, thus equaling the whites’ overall score (1-1) in a match that will require its third and final duel to decide who advances to the round.

At the Santiago Martín Sports Pavilion, the visitors had no room for error. After having accumulated six consecutive defeats in their league backpack, Sergio Scariolo’s pupils were already on the verge of being eliminated and the first period predicted another battle. Not in vain, Aaron Doornekamp was responsible for remembering him with several golden baskets.

Of course, Facu Campazzo and Mario Hezonja, their two great assets throughout this course, soon plugged in, which kept the score within a fist during the first 10 minutes (24-21). With some good action in the low post from the recently signed Mady Sissoko and important points from Gaby Deck, Real Madrid looked better than two days before.

In fact, at the beginning of the next act the meringues already took the lead, with the veteran Sergio Llull taking center stage and being favored by seeing Tenerife taking charge of personal fouls. Two three-pointers from Deck and Llull himself kept the visiting team (39-46, 42-49) on the verge of half-time, without much of a response from the locals.

Some flash from Jaime Fernández from the perimeter, emulating the winning action of the first duel of this tie, made the Tenerife fans believe in another fight against the team that had been champion of the regular league. However, upon returning from the locker room, Real Madrid improved and opened a bigger gap, adding Ömer Yurtseven to their arsenal.

The recent signings for the inside game of the meringues were bearing fruit, especially knowing that Tenerife also in that position suffers from the very important absence of Giorgi Shermadini. To make matters worse for the team coached by Txus Vidorreta, the versatility of their opponent was seen again thanks to Théo Maledon, Trey Lyles, Andrés Feliz and company.

The 65-85 that the scoreboard reflected at the end of the 30th minute was an excessively heavy burden for the locals, who barely bothered their opponent in the fourth quarter of the process. Patty Mills, as Guadianesque as in the previous game against the Madridistas, began to score triples late and did not prevent Real Madrid from sealing the victory to stay alive.

TECHNICAL SHEET.

–RESULT: LA LAGUNA TENERIFE, 83 – REAL MADRID, 118 (45-51, at half-time).

–TEAMS.

LA LAGUNA TENERIFE: Huertas (-), Sastre (2), Scrubb (4), Doornekamp (8) and Abromaitis (6) –initial quintet–; Fridriksson (-), Fernández (14), Mills (21), Van Beck (11), Yebo (12), Alderete (3) and Bordón (2).

REAL MADRID: Campazzo (10), Abalde (3), Deck (11), Hezonja (20) and Sissoko (6) –starting quintet–; Feliz (6), Maledon (16), Llull (12), Lyles (13), Krämer (7), Almansa (-) and Yurtseven (14).

–PARTIALS: 24-21, 21-30, 20-34 and 18-33.

–REFEREES: Perea, Sánchez Sixto and Martínez Silla.

–PAVILLION: Santiago Martín, 5,100 spectators.