The Euroleague is played from power to power. Every victory is sweated in streams. That high level of equality in the tournament was once again experienced by Madrid, who defeated Armani Milan 91-87 in another very tight match. The whites had fallen by a sigh against Baskonia and Efes in recent days, and they bowed to Valencia with their jaws clenched. Against the Messina team, more of the same.
Madrid clung to the scoring lightness of Musa, a whirlwind with 27 points, allied abroad with Hezonja (12), while Tavares commanded under the hoops (17 points and eight rebounds). With that offensive arsenal, Chus Mateo’s group ended up ruling a gusty match, back and forth, with the Italian team always facing each other and with small incomes for several minutes of the match. Musa finished off the job to continue up in the tournament. Nor did Olympiacos give up at the top of the Euroleague, which scratched another narrow victory on their visit to Zalgiris: 72-74.
In the middle zone, Baskonia fell to Maccabi (93-79) in a duel between direct rivals on the border for access to the quarterfinals. Baldwin (24 points, seven rebounds and eight assists), Nebo (15 points and 14 rebounds) and Lorenzo Brown (17 points) were a martyrdom for Joan Peñarroya’s team, supported by Giedraitis (18 points and seven rebounds) and Darius Thompson (17 points and seven assists).
And victory for Valencia against Fenerbahçe (82-80) with a pat from Webb with three tenths to go. Dubljevic (18 points and seven rebounds) led a victory that leaves Mumbrú’s men still with options to access the next round. This Friday (8:30 p.m.) Barça receives Red Star.
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