Real Madrid's love affair with Belgrade: 70th win of the year and an unstoppable Hezonja
Belgrade is the White City and as if honoring the name of the Serbian capital, Real Madrid maintains its wonderful love affair with the place where it won the tenth. There he also starred last year in a historic comeback in the series against Partizan, after the brawl on WiZink. There he devastated the Maccabi exile a few days ago; almost like this Tuesday of the Euroleague double day in his visit to Red Star, which he left with a meager 58 points. [58-72: Narration and statistics]
It is the 70th victory of a 2023 to remember, which however woke up with defeat against Barça, although later it has only collected 17 more. It is the 14th victory in 15 games of the current Euroleague that it dominates with surprising forcefulness, only Fenerbahce was able to surprise Chus Mateo's men. At the Stark Arena, in a collective recital in which a confident Mario Hezonja stood out with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Red Star also succumbed to Madrid's strengths without complaining too much.
This Madrid wins by pure inertia, by pure competitive ambition, no laziness, whether in a setting as rough as the Stark Arena or if several of its most important pieces are missing. Red Star matured slowly, despite the absences of Gaby Deck and Rudy Fernández (who join Yabusele). He let him grow at the beginning, spurred on by his ardent audience; It was nothing more than a ploy to make him fall into its spider web, into that muteness that lowers the rival's heart rate.. From 11-3 at the start, with former Hanga (returning after eight games) as the protagonist, to 34-45 at half-time. Knockout.
Ndiaye was brave from the start, taking that inevitable offensive step that his progression requires: they let him shoot and he nailed two triples. But it was the movement of the bench that led to a relentless comeback. In the magical duel, Sergio Rodríguez vs Teodosic, two of the most talented point guards in recent decades in Europe, the Tenerife native found better connections. Especially in Poirier, 12 points in a second act to silence Belgrade, with six assists from Chacho, who also contributed two triples in a row and Real Madrid found themselves up 12 at one point.
Sfairopoulos' men advanced aimlessly, completely anesthetized by a rival who neither forgives nor relents. The second half was one of total control by Madrid, supported by their defense, the Tavares wall, and Hezonja's flashes, so that their advantage was not jeopardized: they led by 18 and only conceded 11 in the third quarter. Neither Dzanan Musa's gray night (his first triple came after six attempts) changed the plan nor the team's solidity.
It took almost four minutes to premiere in the final act, but neither did that wake up the stands or the rival.. Hezonja sentenced the promising Hugo González and had minutes, just a couple of days after leading the Madrid junior to victory in the prestigious L'Hospitalet tournament.