Rudy Fernández shines against Asvel

Euroleague

matchday 30That's how it was

Real Madrid

70 58

Finalized

Asvel Villeurbanne

Real Madrid beat Asvel Villeurbanne in a trompe l'oeil match resolved by the illumination of Rudy Fernández (70-58).

The whites traveled from solvency to the thicket, but they always went and wanted more than the inconsistent French team.

It took Laso's men to value their ample dominance in rebounding (52-32) and defense, but Rudy unleashed them towards their 22nd win in 29 games (which will remain at 18 when the expulsion of the three Russian teams is confirmed ), a victory (the third in a row after the crisis) with which they mathematically sealed their presence in the

quarterfinals of the Euroleague and put home court advantage on track in the tie.

The Mallorcan forward showed off with 17 points (4 of 6 in triples) and four assists in the decisive stretch, to go from 46-47 in the 28th minute to a 24-11 run that definitively resolved the match, with time even to deny any mirage of openings.

.@RMBaloncesto had too much for @LDLCASVEL to handle in Round 30, as the Spanish side took charge notching up a 70-58 win

Highlights... pic.twitter.com/mjtX1dQz7s

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) March 17, 2022

The night was gusty and began to be played in the heights from the initial jump, with the bar at the 2.20m border, where Walter Tavares (29 years old) and Victor Wembanyama (18 years old) placed it.

The Cape Verdean, the dominating tower of recent years in the Euroleague, faced the French pearl, destined to

in a jiffy, on the podium of the 2023

according to all forecasts.

And the madridista led the staging of his team, with six powerful points in the paint and four rebounds in the first six minutes (11-5), and imposed his armor and experience against Asvel's giant gazelle, who went to the bench with the file at zero and gave the witness to Youssoupha Fall, another

(2.21m).

But neither Fall nor Kostas Antetokounmpo (weighed down by fouls), nor Osetkowski, managed to stop Tavares first and Poirier later (four points in his three minutes in the first quarter).

It was Strazel and Okobo who tempered Asvel, but Rudy redoubled the Madrid administration (with seven points in a row) and Heurtel unleashed the first counterattacks to consolidate local dominance (his were the six white assists at half-time).

He did not catch on however the demarraje.

Wembanyama returned, who sought greater influence by moving his radius of action beyond 6.75 to avoid the crash and show off his wrist and fundamentals.

The looseness, in terms of defensive tension and voracity in attack, was reflected more in the body language of the protagonists than in the score (32-28, m. 17).

Madrid did not finish greasing the bearings and their dominance in rebounding (26-15 in the first half) was stuck in the thicket (16-16 in the second quarter, and 3 of 11 in triples for Laso's men at that point ).

Again,

MORE INFORMATION

Wembanyama, the new prodigy of the Euroleague

After an apparently solid first half, Madrid had only been able to accumulate six rental points.

One would have been able to place Asvel if Antetokounmpo had not committed his fourth foul in a counterattack by the French team.

They could have been tied if Wembanyama had scored his second triple.

And, although Llull broke the chloroform of the moment with a frenetic run, a bingo by Lighty finally served Parker's side to reach their first lead in the match (41-42, m. 26).

Only Llull understood that it was time to open the spigot of character, but the Menorcan missed two triples to boil over and Laso's men reached the finish line with Asvel glued to the hump.

The light switch was found this time by Rudy.

By then, Lighty signed a 3 of 4 triples for Asvel, but Rudy improved the American's production and definitively broke the chains of the match.

Until 68-52 in the 36th minute. With 17 points (4 of 4 in triples) and two assists in 13 minutes on the court at that moment, Rudy solved the congestion and Asvel was ventilated towards Madrid's 22nd victory in 29 games .

An accounting with an asterisk.

Next Monday, if the open war scenario does not change after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Euroleague will make effective the expulsion of CSKA from Moscow, Unics Kazan and Zenit from Saint Petersburg and the readjustment will mean discounting the results obtained against the 15 remaining teams Russian teams.

Madrid, which added a balance of four wins and one defeat against them, sealed in any case its presence in the

and virtually home court advantage in the tie as well.

“We started well, but in the second and third quarters we played at the pace they set.

Then Rudy's triples allowed us to react.

He gave us the push to definitively believe in victory”, analyzed Laso.

From Llull in front of Armani, to Rudy in front of Asvel.

The indelible competitiveness of

.

You can follow EL PAÍS DEPORTES on