He real Madrid add and continue. There are now 19 consecutive victories in the same number of official matches since the beginning of the campaign, the last of them without any kind of consideration against a Monaco (91-73) that they surpassed led by a great Dzanan Musa (21 points and 5 assists for a rating of 29).
In a complicated week for the whites, with four highly demanding matches, the Monegasque side appeared third on the list after the wins against Bilbao Básket in the Endesa League and Valencia Básket in the Euroleague. A dangerous team that had already won at WiZink on its previous visit, the only time in six official precedents, and that was among the four best on the continent last year. But not even for those.
Those of Chus Mateo do not measure the magnitude of who they have in front of them. They are the team to beat, they know it and as such they go out on the court every game with a high level of self-demand. This time was no exception and, after correcting some imbalances that accommodated Monaco’s outside shots, they soon got to work.
Despite attempting only one triple in almost four minutes, they added the same amount as their opponent until the moment of giving the first blow of authority. An 11-2 partial, with Muse unleashed, offered them a nine-point cushion. The Bosnian continued with his inspiration until the end of the first act and was joined by Walter Tavares, adding between them up to 22 of the 30 points of a team that finished with 7 of 8 in shots of two.
After briefly regaining strength, the three-pointers that were previously conspicuous by their absence began to rain from the hand of Sergio Llull. The Spaniard nailed two in a row and the last of them angered the rival coach, Sasa Obradovic, who with a red face of anger matching his tie made himself heard during the time-out.
It didn’t matter to the Madrid player, who still had time to score another one on a possession horn to put his team twenty ahead. The insolence of Lull It brought out the pride of Monaco, that with a favorable 2-9 ended up getting within fifteen and carried that disadvantage until the intermission.
The distance was maintained during the start of the third act, but with the feeling that Real Madrid was still holding something back. He discharged that energy with a 12-2 run sustained over time, which with a quarter of an hour remaining gave him a lead of 23 points. The work was already done, well in advance and with great numbers: 80 points, 28 defensive rebounds and 23 assists at the end of the third quarter.
Turning the decisive ten minutes against a team like Monaco into testimonials is within the reach of few European teams. But that’s how it was for Real Madrid, who Having reached the barrier of 30 in favor, he limited himself to closing the evening without doing more damage than already caused and thinking about their next challenge, the league visit of Unicaja de Málaga.
– Data sheet:
91 – Real Madrid (30+23+27+11): Causeur (7), Campazzo (12), Deck (7), Tavares (12), Musa (21) -starting five-, Hezonja (-), Llull ( 14), Sergio Rodríguez (-), Poirier (12), Yabusele (3) and Rudy Fernández (3).
73 – AS Monaco (20+19+11+23): James (13), Loyd (2), Brown (9), Diallo (4), Motiejunas (14) – starting five -, Okobo (6), Blossomgame ( 4), Cornelie (8), Walker (2), Tarpey (3) and Hall (8).
Referees: Damir Javor (Slovenia), Sergio Silva (Portugal) and Vasiliki Tsaroucha (Greece).
Incidents: match of the ninth round of the Euroleague played at the WiZink Center.