2007-08Regular SeasonRound 12
January 17, 2008 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 PALACIO VISTALEGRE

Real Madrid, which won its derby with Barcelona 82-79

Real Madrid climbed to the second place in Group C by downing archrivals AXA FC Barcelona 82-79 in front of 13,000 fans in the Spanish capita on Thursday night. Madrid improved to 9-3 and is two wins away from the Group C leader, Panathinaikos, first at 11-1. Meanwhile, Barcelona dropped to 8-4 but will have the tie-break advantage if it ties with Madrid at the end of the regular season. Felipe Reyes and Louis Bullock led the winners each with 14 points. Reyes added 12 rebounds for a double-double. Axel Hervelle added 13 points and 9 rebounds, Charles Smith had 12 points while Kerem Tunceri got 11 for Madrid. Roger Grimau led Barcelona with 14 points. Ersan Ilyasova and Mario Kasun each added 12, Alex Acker had 11 while Gianluca Basile and Fran Vazquez got 10 apiece for the guests. Reyes and Alex Mumbru fueled a 13-0 run that allowed Madrid to get a 26-11 lead after 10 minutes. Barcelona improved its defense and got its last lead, 51-52, on a fast break dunk by Acker midway through the third quarter. It all came down to the final 2 minutes, in which Tunceri followed a six-meter jumper with 4-for-4 free throws to seal the outcome down the stretch.

Smith got Madrid going with a driving layup while Lazaros Papadopoulos fed Reyes for an easy basket, good for a 4-0 Madrid lead. Barcelona had opted to place Kasun and Denis Marconato in the starting lineup, so Madrid opted to speed up the game tempo since the opening basket. Reyes hit free throws that Acker erased with a driving basket. Lakovic fired in his first three-pointer but Tunceri answered from downtown to keep Madrid ahead, 9-5. Ilyasova scored around the basket and soon added a wild put-back dunk to keep Barcelona in the game, 11-9. Reyes sank a five-meter jumper that Smith followed with a fast break layup for a 15-9 Madrid lead. Alex Mumbru took over with a reverse layup, as Barcelona even missed open shots now. Madrid was on fire, Tunceri made free throws while Smith buried a step-back triple that made the guests call timeout at 22-9. Barcelona had missed 6 consecutive shots and committed 3 turnovers. Meanwhile, Papadopoulos stepped up with a power basket that capped a 13-0 run for a 15-point lead at 24-9. Fran Vazquez tried to change things with a dunk that Axel Hervelle picked up a loose ball and hit a jumper for a 26-11 Madrid lead after 10 minutes.

Barcelona tried to change the game momentum with Pepe Sanchez on court, as Roger Grimau tried to ignit the guests' comeback with a driving layup. Sanchez added free throws for a 26-15 deficit. Madrid did not panic, as Blagota Sekulic stepped up with a turnaround jumper that Kasun erased with a reverse layup. Gianluca Basile found his first points on a long two-pointer to give Barcelona some hope at 28-19. Madrid struggled to score against the guests' physical defense while Grimau followed a driving basket with free throws for a 28-23 Barcelona deficit, after a 2-12 run. Hervelle stepped up with a reverse layup that Basile erased with free throws. Hervelle, Basile and Mumbru was next on the foul line for a 35-26 score, as Papadopoulos picked up his third foul. Grimau buried a bomb from downtown and Basile added a fast break layup to make it a four-point game, 35-31. Madrid called a much-needed timeout but the hosts could not find the way to the basket. Vazquez scored around the basket but a free throw by Papadopoulos and a big basket by Sergio Llull gave Madrid some air at 38-33. Free throws by Grimau and Llull fixed the score at 40-35 as both teams headed to the locker rooms.

Marconato scored around the basket soon after the break while Basile fired in a three-pointer from the right wing to tie the game at 40-40. Reyes stepped up with free throws that Vazquez matched with a baseline jumper. Madrid kept attacking the basket, as Mumbru scored in the low post while Reyes added a power layup for a 44-40 edge. Ilyasova shined with a driving layup but Madrid failed to adjust its defense, allowing too many easy shots. Sanchez fed Vazquez for an uncontested dunk that tied the game again, 46-46, midway through the third quarter. Bullock buried a fallaway jumper but Acker immediately answered in the other end to keep the game tied at 48-48. Bullock kept pacing Madrid with a corner three-pointer, but Vazquez sank a five-meter shot while a fast break dunk by Acker gave Barcelona its first lead of the night, 51-52. Reyes made a free throw, as the hosts struggled to find good options for its big men now. Meanwhile, Ilyasova buried an incredible triple to make Barcelona regain the lead, 52-55. Hervelle and Bullock made one free throw apiece while once again Hervelle beat the buzzer with a big dunk to make Madrid regain a 56-55 edge after 30 minutes.

Madrid improved its defense early in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Reyes dunked it while Bullock buried a mid-range jumper for a 60-55 Madrid lead, after an 8-0 run. Kasun followed free throws with a close jumper to keep Barcelona in the game, 62-59. Smith provided a highlight with a huge dunk in traffic and then sent the crowd to their feet with a bomb from downtown to make the guests call timeout at 68-59. Kasun kept pacing Madrid with a power dunk but an unstoppable Hervelle answered in the same way to keep a nine-point Madrid lead, 70-61. Ilyasova beat the shot clock buzzer with a three-pointer while Acker also stroke from downtown to bring Barcelona back to life, 70-67. Bullock joined the three-point shootout but a floating jumper by Kasun off a Barcelona timeout got the guests within 73-69. Sanchez fired in a wide open triple to make it a one-point game, 73-72. Bullock answered from downtown while free throws by Bullock brought Barcelona within 76-74 with 2 minutes remaining. Tunceri sank a six-meter shot that Acker matched with free throws. Hervelle had a key block on Marconato while an unsportsmanlike foul on Sanchez allowed Tunceri to seal the outcome, 82-76, with 21 seconds to go.

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Euroleague.net
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Referees: KOUKOULEKIDIS, STELIOS; VOREADIS, LAZAROS; PUKL,SASA
Attendance: 13000
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid26141626
AXA FC Barcelona11242024
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid26405682
AXA FC Barcelona11355579
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 PELEKANOS, MICHALIS 6:43     0/1   1   1       1   2 1  
7 SMITH, CHARLES 24:43 12 3/4 2/4     3 3 1 2 2 1   1   13
8 SEKULIC, BLAGOTA 1:54 2 1/2                     2   -1
9 REYES, FELIPE 29:18 14 4/8   6/9 6 6 12 2   5 1 2 4 8 19
13 AGUILAR, PABLO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 PAPADOPOULOS, LAZAROS 23:47 7 2/6   3/5 1 2 3 1   2     4 5 4
15 MUMBRU, ALEX 24:22 5 2/3 0/3 1/2 2 2 4 1   2     3 2 2
17 HERVELLE, AXEL 23:55 13 5/10 0/2 3/4 8 1 9   1   1   1 2 17
19 TUNCERI, KEREM 22:30 11 1/2 1/3 6/6 1 3 4 4 2 4     1 4 17
22 BULLOCK, LOUIS 25:17 14 2/2 3/5 1/2   1 1 1 1       3 2 13
23 LLULL, SERGIO 11:55 4 1/2 0/1 2/2 1   1 4   3       1 5
24 LOPEZ, RAUL 5:36   0/1 0/1   1 1 2     3     1 1 -3
Team           1 4 5   1           6
Totals 200:00 82 21/40 6/20 22/30 22 23 45 14 7 21 4 2 22 26 92
        52.5% 30% 73.3%
Head coach: PLAZA, JOAN
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
AXA FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 BASILE, GIANLUCA 26:38 10 2/4 1/7 3/4 1 1 2 4 3     1 1 3 11
6 SANCHEZ, PEPE 23:51 5 0/1 1/1 2/2 1 1 2 4 6 3     4 2 11
8 TRIAS, JORDI 5:40           2 2           1   1
9 MARCONATO, DENIS 14:36 2 1/5     3   3         1 4   -4
10 LAKOVIC, JAKA 21:15 3 0/1 1/3         3 1 2     2 3 3
17 VAZQUEZ, FRAN 25:29 10 5/9     1 1 2     1     2 1 6
21 ILYASOVA, ERSAN 25:29 12 3/5 2/4   1 3 4 1 3 1 1   5 2 13
24 MONCASI, ALBERT DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
34 ACKER, ALEX 23:20 11 3/5 1/3 2/2       1 2 1   1   2 10
41 KASUN, MARIO 13:44 12 4/4   4/4 1   1     1 1   5 5 13
44 GRIMAU, ROGER 19:58 14 2/5 2/4 4/5 1 2 3 4 3     1 2 4 19
Team           1   1     1          
Totals 200:00 79 20/39 8/22 15/17 10 10 20 17 18 10 2 4 26 22 83
        51.3% 36.4% 88.2%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Head Coaches

PLAZA, JOAN
Real Madrid
"It was a fun-to-watch game due to its intensity. Our initial lead wasn't very relevant, because we knew that the logical thing would be seeing Barcelona getting back to thegame. I am happy that the team showed some improvements and managed to display its talent in the final minutes. It was a very important win against a team that I think it will go really deep in the competition. Our initial goal was to advance to the Top 16 and we achieved it already. Now we want to finish the regular season with two more wins."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
AXA FC Barcelona
"We had a slow start in the first quarter, which allowed Real Madrid to take a big lead in the opening minutes. Our defensive intensity allowed us to get back in the game but Madrid outrebounded us, especially in the offensive end. That was the key to this game along with their effectivivty in one-on-one situations in the final minutes."

Players

HERVELLE, AXEL
Real Madrid
"It was a really good game for us. We had a very strong start, with good defense. That allowed us to control the game and defense eventually allowed us to win. I am satisfied with my good work, especially in rebounds and defense. I think that we must improve our up-tempo game and make the most out of our fast break opportunities. We are second in this group now, so now we must keep going and show that we can beat Panathinaikos."
REYES, FELIPE
Real Madrid
"It was a tough game with great intensity. We were looking forward to playing this game and had a strong start. Barcelona is not our favourite opponent because they play well against us, but we managed to win the game. It is an important win psychological speaking and that allowed us to be second in this group. We must stay focused because we have a long way to run in the competition."
GRIMAU, ROGER
AXA FC Barcelona
"I think that we played a good game in general terms. We kept our options alive until the final minutes but the outcome of the game was the one you saw. That unsportsmanlike foul killed us, but we cannot think about it now. We must look forward and try to get tie-break advantages to finish as high as possible in our regular season group."
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