League leaders pick up seventeenth win

Real Madrid comfortably beat Surne Bilbao Basket at the WiZink Center and extended their lead over Unicaja to two wins, after they lost to Joventut earlier in the day. Chus Mateo's team picked up their seventeenth win of the season in a game they dominated from the off thanks to a great start (25-11 in eight minutes) and a decisive third quarter (+14). Campazzo (10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals) and Poirier (11 and 7 rebounds), with 20 PIR each, led a group display. Musa, Yabusele, Hezonja, Abalde and Ndiaye also exceeded double figures in this area.

The league leaders set out determined to control the game right from the off. Solid at the back, accurate in the three pointers with two in a row to start the scoring and making the offensive rebounds (two by Ndiaye), led to a 10-0 lead in just three minutes. The lead increased to 14 points in the first quarter (25-11, min.8). Campazzo (5 points and 5 assists) steered the team as they shared the scoring around (Abalde 6, Musa 5 and Deck 5).

Managing the lead
Bilbao Basket got better with the rotations, particularly with the presence of Hlinason on the inside, to close the gap to eight points before an attacking drought hit both sides at 30-22. Yabusele broke the deadlock after almost four minutes at the start of the second quarter. The pace picked up from there. Madrid looked to the inspiration of Musa (8 points without a miss from the court) and his 10 first-half turnovers, which enabled them to counter the visitors' impetus and go in with a 48-38 lead at the break.

Madrid's superb start to the second half, even better than in the first quarter, blew the game open and gave them a lead of more than 20 points after a 16-4 run. Defence continued to cause Bilbao Basket continual turnovers, while Campazzo drove the leader's best spell (he came on in the 27th minute, with 10 points and 10 assists). He was ably backed up by Abalde, Yabusele and Poirier. The power forward was a menace from the perimeter (two three-pointers) and set up the play of the game with a dunk over Killeya-Jones and a personal foul. His fellow countryman got the better of Hlinason and showed his strength around the rim to make it 28-14 in the period and increase the lead to +24 (76-52).

Team performance
Despite having the victory in the bag, Madrid never let their intensity drop. Chus Mateo continued to rotate and share the minutes around. Alocén directed the team in a final stretch where Hugo González also featured. The leader held a lead of over 20 points for most of the final quarter in a very complete group performance: five players finished in double digits in scoring and seven in PIR (95-80 min.40).

REAL MADRID-SURNE BILBAO BASKET