Unicaja suffered another epic ending against Gran Canaria and Baskonia fell to the punch of Rio Breogan.
Real Madrid defeated Surne Bilbao Basket (88-70) on Sunday in the 25th round of the Liga Endesa, while Dreamland Gran Canaria extended Unicaja’s slump (91-89), and Barça won the derby against Joventut despite a tough final (86-93).
Chus Mateo’s team accumulated 13 consecutive victories in the domestic competition, leading solo with 21 wins, thanks to a great second half at the Movistar Arena. The Whites closed a perfect week, with four wins in seven days, thanks to the powerful duo of Serge Ibaka, who had his best performance with Madrid with 19 points, and Edy Tavares.
Between the two big men, they scored 30 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, made 7 blocks, and had a combined rating of 53, with a great second half that was also embodied by Sergio Llull (11 points in the third quarter). Mateo’s team responded to the previous day’s victory of La Laguna Tenerife, who remains their closest pursuer.
Valencia Basket remains two wins behind, having defeated Coviran Granada (69-97), a team still struggling at the bottom. Matt Costello and Semi Ojeleye, with 18 points each, led a ‘taronja’ team with seven players in double-digit ratings, breaking the game open with a 5-23 run in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Unicaja suffered its third consecutive defeat, the worst slump of the season, against a Gran Canaria team that thrives on epic endings. After their thrilling victory on Thursday against Bahçesehir to force the third game of the Eurocup semifinals, Jaka Lakovic’s whiteboard shone again with two seconds left, with Andrew Albicy making the winning shot (91-89).
In their return to the venue of their Copa title last month, Ibon Navarro’s team trailed a Gran Canaria team led by John Shurna (19 points) and George Conditt (21 rating). Unicaja tried to strike back with Kameron Taylor, but Albicy slipped through the Malaga defense to secure the Canaries in the playoffs zone with 14 wins, compared to Unicaja’s 17.
On the other hand, Barça won a direct duel and derby against ‘Penya’ to climb to fifth in the table despite struggling in the final quarters. Joan Peñarroya’s team showed quality and good defense, with a collective performance from Kevin Punter, Jabari Parker, Alex Abrines, and Tomas Satoransky, but the home team found energy in the final quarter in a packed Olímpic stadium.
Despite leading by 26 points, Barça found themselves on the ropes in the final period, during the celebration of ‘Penya’s’ 95th birthday. The green and black triples from Sam Dekker, Devon Dotson, Kassius Robertson, and Adam Hanga, who claimed a foul in favor of Barça in the final minute to prevent a more dramatic ending, came too late to avoid Barça’s comeback.
Furthermore, Baskonia took another misstep in their quest to be in the Top 8, falling (88-82) to an inspired Rio Breogan. The Galician team moved further away from the relegation zone with their historic record of 17 triples, despite Baskonia’s attempt to comeback from 32 points down under Pablo Laso’s leadership, now ninth, just one win away from the playoffs zone.
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