Not even the mess with Mirotic decenters Barça: he suffocates Real Madrid to make it 1-0

There were several wins in one for Barça on Friday at the Palau. Against his own extra-sports tide, against the ghosts against Real Madrid and the first in this ACB final that is shaping up to be long and intense. An exercise in concentration and energy to hit the start. Jasikevicius, with Sanli, Laprovittola and Satoransky as leaders, suffocated the European champion in the second half to make it 1-0. [97-88: Narration and Stats]

“No matter what happens, it's how you manage it”. Saras bite the bullet and showed professionalism in the preview. The Mirotic fire threatened the stability of his Barça at the least opportune moment, a few hours from the abyss of a final in which nothing less was at stake than avoiding the disaster of a blank year. A shot in the foot before starting, in case I didn't have enough pressure. First survive the power of Madrid, then the expulsion of its leading player from the club. Even so, once in battle, everything was forgotten and that is his great merit.

Because, with the ball in the air, the competitive frenzy of two rivals with so many affronts to settle is soon recovered. In every detail, in an unbalanced pairing, in a bad blockade, in a rebound that nobody closed, Barça and Madrid open a chest of scars that have not yet been closed. That zone that worked for Chus Mateo in the Final Four is no longer a surprise, because Sanli recovered his perimeter threat of yesteryear, the one that unbalanced Tavares.

The dawn of the final was hard to explain. A good start for Madrid, supported by Goss and Tavares, was soon blurred by the success of Barça, who waved their attacks with ease, who wounded with astonishing ease guided by the energy of Jokubaitis. He scored 28 points for Madrid in the first act, none from Mirotic, applauded by his audience, who later went to redeem himself. Although that local inertia soon stopped short, because against the European champion any concentration error is expensive.

Sergio Rodriguez

The level of local aggressiveness went down a step and Madrid took advantage of it to lose their hair. El Chacho found Tavares and the team the transitions. The uncontrolled basketball of that section, like a schoolyard, suits the whites. A 2-13 run led them to the break. He had been cut by Sanli, again, and Hezonja closed the offensive first half with a nice basket at the buzzer.

All the attacking fieryness of those initial 20 minutes disappeared after the break. The adjustments and the errors came, the concessions ended and an unbearable equality was maintained.. And, just as chaos suited Madrid, in the mud Barça was the one that felt comfortable and dominant, intelligently exploring the advantages that arose from defensive changes. Only the mistake from the perimeter prevented them from taking off more, although they left their rival with 11 points in the entire third act.

Madrid began to show symptoms of suffocation before Jasikevicius's spider web, which left no loophole. He could not achieve a clean pass or a placid penetration or an extra rebound. Hezonja made triples without an advantage, but it was not enough for the whites. In that torture, a Satoransky emerged who for a long time has established himself as the true leader of Barça. Well accompanied by Da Silva, as an unexpected element, and by Laprovittola's points, the locals skyrocketed, with an 80-70 score with four minutes to go that would have been definitive for anyone other than Madrid.

But this time, despite the brave efforts of Chacho (again the best of his team), there was no miracle or epic of a handcuffed team, who missed Musa's points and who was not even worth his recovered success from the triple. Barça was more coral and powerful, with up to seven of its players above 10 points. On Sunday, second round at the Palau. The statistics say that in 20 of the 22 finals that began with a local victory, the champion's trophy was lifted by the team that started with the field advantage in favor.