04/11/2021 4:54 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 04/11/2021 4:54 PM
Many times questioned by the fans of his team, Nicolás Laprovittola was
the key to victory
in the great game played by the two biggest clubs in Spain.
A double and foul from the Argentine point guard
four seconds from the end
gave the
White House
the victory
87-85,
ruined
Pau Gasol's
return
to the championship and
cut the Catalans'
streak of 16 wins in a row.
Lapro
completed a roster with
12 points
(4-9 from the field with 2 triples),
5 assists and 1 steal
in almost 24 minutes.
Leandro Bolmaro did not add minutes.
Real Madrid, fighter in defense and successful from the perimeter (15 of 34 triples), handcuffed Barça (85-87) until the last minute, when the Barça team almost traced a disadvantage that reached 14 points.
It was the first game of the team led by Pablo Laso without Gabriel Deck since the Santiago native agreed to his arrival in the NBA to wear the Oklahoma City Thunder jersey.
The great performance of Nicolás Laprovittola
Decisive in the triumph of Real Madrid against Barcelona
In the return to the ACB League of Pau Gasol
, who was left
without scoring
in the 8 minutes he played, the white team was very solid at the Palau Blaugrana and, with three more victories than the Catalan team, took an
almost definitive
step
to finish the first phase as leader.
The presence of Gasol
monopolized all the spotlights
in the previous one.
The Barcelona coach, Sarunas Jasikevicius, put the former NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers at the start, but the protagonist in the first half was
the
Real Madrid
team game
with five players -Rudy Fernández, Laprovittola, Causeur, Vukcevic and Garuba - exceeding ten points.
The white team commanded in the first minutes.
Domino lowered the rim capturing 7 offensive rebounds,
drowning Mirotic and Gasol himself -they
both finished the first half without scoring-,
Laprovittola
pulled
the strings
of his team and Garuba gave a defensive lesson.
A dynamic that was maintained in the second act.
Real Madrid found in the triples of Rudy Fernández and the young Tristan Vukcevic (18 years old) the partial that was missing (11-0) to
leave
Barça
stunned
(36-22).
Laprovittola on the brand of Greek Nick Calathes.
Photo EFE / Enric Fontcuberta
The mentality of the premises
changed diametrically
in the resumption but Madrid controlled the actions in such a way that it was not
enough
to cut a distance that
touched its ceiling
when reaching 49-35.
From there, as if the group said "enough",
Barça
was reunited with the defense.
The pressure
on the entire court that Jasikevicius ordered, the
rebound control
and the appearance in attack of the former NBA
Mirotic
helped
, in addition to the departure of Walter Tavares at Real for four fouls.
That allowed Barcelona to remain
only two points
(57-59) at the end of the third quarter, after a partial in favor of 22-10.
When it seemed that in the last quarter equality would reign,
the soul of Real Madrid reappeared
and passed over an unknown Barcelona.
The white team pressed on defense, forcing the losses of their rival, and
did not miss from the perimeter
, with a successful Causeur, to chain a partial of 15 to 4 that again stretched differences (74-61) six minutes before closing.
The match turned into a strategic battle in which the hierarchy of attacks regularly overtook the defenses.
The
club
did not give
up and hand Higgins, top scorer of the match with 21 points, was placed
at 4 points to 2 minutes 50 seconds left.
Pau Gasol fights for the ball against Walter Tavares.
Photo EFE / Enric Fontcuberta
But the locals rushed, they
did not have the necessary calm
and Real Madrid faced the last 40 seconds with an advantage of nine points (83-74).
It was then that the game went crazy and
Barça
, led by Higgins and a triple by Mirotic with ten seconds to go, put themselves
ahead on the scoreboard
for the first time in the entire match
(85-84).
And it was time for
Lapro
: he received the ball, crossed the court, banked the attempted steal of the ball, held on with his body on penetration and released the ball to the hoop stumbling.
I bumped into the hoop, hopped off the ball, and landed in 4 seconds to go.
The converted free kick put the
final figure on
the game with an indisputable Argentine accent.