Real Madrid disconnects during its visit to the EA7 Emporio Armani

Real Madrid lost this Tuesday 89-82 on their visit to the EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, despite the 25 points of Argentine guard Facundo Campazzo, in a match corresponding to matchday 16 in the regular phase of the Euroleague and where Serbian guard Marko Guduric played a key role for the hosts.

At the Allianz Cloud, as a replacement for Assago’s usual Unipol Forum, Real Madrid appeared without the injured Usman Garuba and initially relied on the success of Trey Lyles. Not in vain, the Canadian power forward scored the first nine visiting points, while Quinn Ellis opened the home team’s scoring account with a cornered triple.

Despite the good work of Ellis, two losses in a row for his team and a central triple by Facu Campazzo put the score at 9-16. However, Olimpia Milano came back better from a television timeout and went 11-0 in the quarter, reaching 20-17 with 2:54 left in the first quarter after a three-pointer and a fastbreak basket by Zach LeDay.

That short advantage allowed the Italian team to exhaust the first 10 minutes (23-21) ahead of an opponent that also did not include David Krämer and Izan Almansa. That left Alex Len with the responsibility of giving Walter Tavares a rest and his minutes on the court were uneven, with intimidation under the hoops but without taking advantage of the attacking rebounds.

The meringues were uncomfortable and, midway through the second period, they were down 37-27 after a triple by Lorenzo Brown and an infraction by Lyles for steps. Olimpia’s choral performance thanks to Armoni Brooks, Marko Guduric and Shavon Shields kept the distance, and you could also see the short minutes of Mario Hezonja dosed by his coach.

Sergio Scariolo sees the Croatian forward as a pillar of his plans along with Campazzo and ‘Edy’ Tavares, but almost no one else came out during this match in the long shots. The moments on the court by Sergio Llull and Andrés Feliz did not improve that either and the difference of seven triples between the two teams had been decisive in reaching the break (50-39).

Although Real Madrid returned from the locker room committing a technical foul and protesting, it served to plug in and Campazzo woke up. Alberto Abalde and Gaby Deck, making two triples, served as supporting actors and then another triple by Hezonja put the score at 59-55 with 2:22 left in a third quarter without the previous spark from Brown or Brooks.

The team coached by Peppe Poeta needed resources, especially at the back, and Josh Nebo was chosen to try to stop Hezonja along with Guduric, who was several tasks away. Those from Milan ran out the 30th minute with a favorable 66-60 and, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Brooks responded from the perimeter to a dunk that Chuma Okeke had made.

Okeke himself scored again under the board, but later missed another shot that was apparently easier. Not even Tavares’ long arms seemed to scare Olimpia, which, thanks to two three-pointers from Guduric almost in a row, was up 79-68 with 5:53 remaining. Faced with this scenario, Real Madrid stood up with two good defenses and accuracy in free kicks.

To make matters worse, Campazzo hit two triples and tightened everything (84-80) with a minute and a half left. Guduric responded with a triple, but immediately committed his fifth personal foul and that gave oxygen to the white team. Théo Maledon returned the uncertainty and right afterward Deck grabbed a key rebound on defense, although Abalde missed when he shouldn’t have.

The forward from Ferrol crashed two consecutive three-point attempts into the hoop, with another more desperate one at the final horn of the clock, and there died the hopes of a comeback for a Real Madrid that is now tied in the table precisely with Olimpia due to its balance of 9-7.

TECHNICAL SHEET.

–RESULT: EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN, 89 – REAL MADRID, 82 (50-39, at halftime).

–TEAMS.

EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MAN: Eloks (13), Gudurur (22), brown (8), Ricci (3) y Nebo (7).

REAL MADRID: Campazzo (25), Abalde (7), Deck (3), Lyles (14) and Tavares (2) –starting quintet–; Okeke (7), Maledon (8), Feliz (3), Llull (-), Hezonja (11), Len (2) and Procida (-).

–PARTIALS: 23-21, 27-18, 16-21 and 23-22.

–REFEREES: Mogulkoc, Racys and Petek. Guduric was eliminated for personal fouls at the EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.

–PAVILLION: Allianz Cloud, 3,503 spectators.