There are little moments that change everything, that stop a train in motion, that wake up someone who seemed tangled in a labyrinth.. It was not the third charm for Barça, once again fleeced by Real Madrid, three times in a month and a half. And it wasn't because, when he seemed dominant and sure of himself after a solid start, he fell to the canvas due to one of those wild combinations of Chus Mateo's, Deck's baskets like hooks to the chin. It was just before the break and nothing was like before. Even so, the white victory was extremely painful, impossible not to be so with two triples out of 22 attempts. [65-64: Narration and statistics]

It was perhaps the worst Madrid of the season, but it remains unstoppable, 13 wins without defeat, immaculate at home and in Europe. He triumphed again despite the fact that it seemed like another Barça, despite the fact that his success from the perimeter was disastrous, despite the fact that he did not have Yabusele and Tavares turned off very quickly.. Avoid inconveniences, first 15 minutes to forget and a horrible outcome in which free throws, for better and for worse, decided. Satoransky had three to even take the game to overtime, but he missed the first.

Barça had gone to battle without its helm Laprovittola and that perhaps made it exploit its defensive excellence, a quarter of an hour of perfection at the start, disconcerting Madrid with the first symptoms of its traffic jam and mistake.. Not even the old guard's appeal was worth it this time for Chus Mateo: Chacho, Rudy and Llull hit the court, but neither the triples arrived nor the targets flowed.

Hernangomez

When Willy went out onto the field, Edy Tavares was no longer on it. And that release helped the man from Madrid, once again booed on his return to the Palace, to fill himself with confidence, to chain 11 points that they shot at the Blaugrana, an astonishing maximum before the run run of the stands (16-30).

Once again at the crossroads, with Tavares back on the bench for the third, Madrid had no choice but to play the ball.. That resort to the back of the hat that has gotten him out of so many troubles in his recent history. With water up to their necks, Campazzo and Deck connected to remedy the tragedy before the break. And Barça, like so many others, succumbed to such speed.

It was 12-0 until the horn at the end of the second quarter, crowned with a triple in extremis by Deck: it was his ninth career point and also the first success from the perimeter of 15 attempts. An F5 right at the key moment, a psychological blow to face the second half as if nothing had happened.

That frenzy knocks anyone down, as if a connection of blows from an enraged boxer. On the way back, Barça was another. And Madrid too. Now I didn't miss Yabusele anymore. Now he avoided rival defensive traps more easily, and Campazzo, huge, continued to connect with almost everyone, especially Deck.

Now I was running. Because the duel had shed its corsets and in a street runner there are few who can hold the gaze of Madrid. And bad news was piling up for Barça, like Satoransky's fourth. He was already like a mountaineer facing an avalanche, it seemed that he could only watch as the white cyclone engulfed him, as the ghosts of lately returned.

Deck and Poirier

Not even Willy's return helped the visitors wake up. While an increasingly desperate Grimau looked for resources against Deck and Poirier, and his team waged war on their own, the white advantage grew and grew: it went from plus 14 to minus 12 (53-41) in just a few minutes.

And there, with everything apparently resolved, Madrid left WiZink ahead of time. In the attempt to remedy the inevitable, Barça approached stealthily and, almost without realizing it, found themselves with options for a somewhat incredible comeback.. Satoransky scored a couple of baskets in transition and Campazzo couldn't close the night. Even a dubious foul in the shooting action gave the Czech point guard a chance to have taken the game to overtime.. But the first one failed and what was given was over.. Madrid remains intact and Barça, much more competitive than on the previous two occasions, can continue to boast that they have only lost against one rival so far this season.