2020-21Regular SeasonRound 25
February 19, 2021 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 LA FONTETA

Valencia beats Real again

Valencia Basket gained more momentum by downing Real Madrid 89-78 at La Fonteta on Friday. Valencia recorded its second consecutive win after downing CSKA Moscow in double overtime in Round 24, and improved to 13-12 in the standings. Real dropped to 15-10 and is 0-5 against Spanish teams in the EuroLeague this season. Sam Van Rossom led the winners with 16 points. Vanja Marinkovic added 14, Nikola Kalinic had 12 while Mike Tobey and Klemen Prepelic both got 11 for Valencia. Jaycee Carroll led Real with 20 points. Alberto Abalde added 13 and Edy Tavares 11. Marinkovic led Valencia to a 29-21 advantage after 10 minutes. The hosts boosted their margin to 55-35 at halftime and kept a 71-52 margin at the end of the third quarter, enough to seal the outcome way before the final buzzer.

Marinkovic and Kalinic got Valencia going with back-to-back three-pointers. Tavares hit consecutive jumpers but Van Rossom scored in penetration and Derrick Williams followed a dunk with a triple for a 13-6 Valencia lead. Bojan Dubljevic hit a jump hook and Marinkovic boosted the hosts' lead to 17-8. Carroll hit his third consecutive floater and struck three times from downtown, but a red-hot Marinkovic kept Valencia ahead, 26-19. Tobey joined the three-point shootout but Tavares kept Real within 29-21 after 10 minutes. Tobey insisted from downtown early in the second quarter and Kalinic added a driving layup for a 34-23 Valencia lead. Fabien Causeur scored twice around the basket and Sergio Llull improved Louis Labeyrie's dunk with a three-pointer to keep Real within 39-30. Josep Puerto took over with a coast-to-coast layup and Martin Hermannsson downed a triple to make the guests call timeout at 44-30. Hermannsson hit a jumper, getting help from Dubljevic and Van Rossom to break the game open, 50-33. Marinkovic hit a driving layup and Prepelic beat the halftime buzzer with a huge three-pointer that made it a 20-point game at the break, 55-35.

Gabriel Deck followed a running hook with a triple, and Nicolas Laprovittola also struck from downtown to give Real hope at 57-43. Tavares scored twice in the paint and Deck added a layup, but Kalinic and an outstanding Van Rossom kept Valencia way ahead, 69-51. Hermannsson scored around the rim for a 71-52 score after 30 minutes. Tobey and Trey Thompkins traded put-back baskets early in the fourth quarter. Carlos Alocen followed Causeur's layup with a triple for a 73-59 scoreline. Tobey answered from beyond the arc and Prepelic added a layup, before Abalde and Carroll got the guests closer, 78-64. But Van Rossom and Kalinic sealed the outcome, 82-66, with three minutes left.

Pivotal performer

Sam Van Rossom dominated the game tempo and seemed to be everywhere, leading Valencia at both ends of the floor. He finished the game with 16 points on 5-of-5 two-pointers and 2-of-4 three-pointers, adding 8 rebounds for a game-high PIR of 20.

Game-changing moment

Valencia led 39-30 late in the first half and started to find good scoring options everywhere. Josep Puerto scored on the break, Martin Hermannsson followed a three-pointer with a jumper, Bojan Dubljevic, Van Rossom and Vanja Marinkovic each added layups, and Klemen Prepelic beat the halftime buzzer with a huge triple that made it a 20-point game, 55-35. Real could never come back from that.

Stellar stat

Valencia excelled in the first half, hitting 13-of-16 two-point shots (81.3%) and 8-of-14 three-pointers (57.1%) and getting 10 assists while picking up just one turnover. Real, meanwhile, had 6 turnovers and hit only 4-of-16 three-pointers before the break. The PIR difference, 67-35, said it all.

Did you know?

Valencia has now beaten Real twice in this year's EuroLeague Regular Season, having previously downed Los Blancos 77-93 at WiZink Center. That has only happened once in the Spanish League regular season out of 30 times since 1990, in the 2002-03 season when Valencia won 74-87 in Madrid and 77-76 at La Fonteta.

Next game

Valencia visits Zenit St Petersburg, featuring former star forward Will Thomas, on Thursday, February 25 at 18:00 CET. A day later, on Friday, February 26, Real welcomes Zalgiris Kaunas at 21:00 CET.

Sam Van Rossom - Valencia Basket - EB20
Friday, February 19, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; KOLJENSIC, MILOS ; JURAS, MARKO
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Valencia Basket29261618
Real Madrid21141726
End of Quarter1234
Valencia Basket29557189
Real Madrid21355278
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 MARINKOVIC, VANJA 15:30 14 3/4 2/2 2/3   1 1     1     1 3 14
3 PREPELIC, KLEMEN 22:06 11 1/1 2/3 3/5   1 1 1   3     3 5 9
4 PRADILLA, JAIME DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 PUERTO, JOSEP 12:50 2 1/2 0/1     1 1       1   1   1
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 20:11 3 1/2 0/2 1/2 1 7 8   1     1   1 8
9 VAN ROSSOM, SAM 25:23 16 5/5 2/4   1   1 8   2     2 1 20
10 TOBEY, MIKE 19:44 11 1/3 3/4   1 4 5           3 1 11
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 26:25 12 3/5 1/2 3/6 2 1 3 4 2 2 1 1   3 16
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 20:00 6 3/4 0/3 0/2   5 5 2 1 2     1 3 8
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 WILLIAMS, DERRICK 20:00 5 1/2 1/3     4 4   1 1     1 1 6
24 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 17:51 9 2/4 1/2 2/3   4 4 2 1 4     3 4 9
Team           2 2 4               4
Totals 200:00 89 21/32 12/26 11/21 7 30 37 17 6 15 2 2 15 22 106
        65.6% 46.2% 52.4%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 CAUSEUR, FABIEN 19:46 9 4/5 0/3 1/2   1 1 1 2 2   1 3 4 6
6 ABALDE, ALBERTO 22:07 13 2/3 3/7     3 3 1 1       4 1 10
7 TYUS, ALEX 14:03 2 0/2   2/2 2 3 5 1   1     2 1 4
8 LAPROVITTOLA, NICOLAS 13:32 5 1/1 1/5         2 1 2     1 1 2
9 REYES, FELIPE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 ALOCEN, CARLOS 21:30 4 0/1 1/4 1/2   2 2 3   3     2 4 3
14 DECK, GABRIEL 23:39 9 2/7 1/5 2/2   1 1 1 2 2 1     2 5
16 GARUBA, USMAN 5:40           1 1     2     3   -4
20 CARROLL, JAYCEE 22:32 20 4/6 4/7         2       1 3 1 14
22 TAVARES, WALTER 28:56 11 5/7   1/2 4 5 9 3 1 2 1   2 1 19
23 LLULL, SERGIO 9:12 3   1/2         2 1           5
33 THOMPKINS, TREY 19:03 2 1/1 0/2   2 7 9   1       2   8
Team           3   3               3
Totals 200:00 78 19/33 11/35 7/10 11 23 34 16 9 14 2 2 22 15 75
        57.6% 31.4% 70%
Head coach: LASO, PABLO

Head Coaches

PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket

"We didn't begin the second half with the best concentration, especially on defense. We had some turnovers on offense, giving Real the opportunity to return to the game. We recovered our concentration, played solid and won. We are starting a very important cycle of the season in the EuroLeague. Today, it was our first game after working together for five days. For us, it is a very good win. Right now, the most important thing is that all the players are healthy and play with the best mentality in the next games, because it is the key moment of the season."

"I think we played a very complete game, building on a first half in which things went really well for us. We had the feeling of playing at a good rhythm, playing well and using a good shot selection to find good options, which is what we didn't do well against them in the Copa del Rey. We knew that Real struggled in the first half and one of the things we regret is that they took a lot of uncontested shots. In the second half, we knew it all could change because Real is a championship-level team. We started the second half being a little bit out of focus but once we were aware that we have to bring back the right mentality in the game, we were solid again."

LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid
"Congratulations to Valencia Basket for the win. I think it was deserved, they were the better team since the beginning of the game. If you look at the stats, they were better than us in most categories. The team fought until the end, but we always had the feeling of being behind them since the beginning. We were not able to link good defensive and offensive actions – when we played good defense, we had turnovers, and when we were hitting shots, we were not playing defense. In the end, the feeling is that we were trailing all the time, especially because I consider they played a serious game and were very solid. The team fought but basketball is not just fighting. It is a part of it, but the feeling we had during the game was not good."

Players

VAN ROSSOM, SAM
Valencia Basket
"They came out of the locker room more aggressive than in the first half, which shouldn't surprise us. We were not really ready for it during the first offenses [of the second half] but after that, we calmed down a little bit and went back to our game from the first half, which was very good, and I think that was the key. It is going to be a hard battle. I think that, as you see, there are a lot of teams involved [in the playoffs race]. Every game is super important. Now we go three games on the road which should be very important to see where we can get this season."
MARINKOVIC, VANJA
Valencia Basket
"I think we came out in the second half calm in our heads. We didn't fall under the pressure from Real and from maybe some bad calls on offense. We stayed as one, as a team, and that was the key. We can beat anyone and also, we can lose against anyone. We are one crazy team but I think this game and the one against CSKA should help us jump as a team, to go higher. Now we have eight crazy days on the road but if we keep playing like this, I think we can make it to the playoffs."
ABALDE, ALBERTO
Real Madrid
"I believe they were the better team since the opening tip. They dominated the rhythm of the game and we lacked energy in all of our actions, we were always behind them. We didn't manage to have the intensity that we wanted to have on defense, dominate the rebounds and dictate the rhythm of the game. They deserved to win this game and what we need to do is move on and focus on growing as a team to finish the season strong."
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