WiZink surrenders to Doncic and Campazzo honors him with a spectacular final comeback against the Mavericks
The surroundings of WiZink were a hive of Doncicmania, an invasion of the visiting team's shirts, a blue tide with the 77 on the back. Five years had passed since Luka Doncic's last time at the Palace and the distance had only increased the mutual feeling of longing.. Real Madrid's pride in seeing that blonde boy who came to their youth academy at the age of 12 dominate the NBA. The Slovenian's love was shown not only through tweets and winks: he, with the support of his president Mark Cuban, was the one who made the Mavericks' visit to Madrid possible.
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«I don't know what to say, it's a special day. Thank you all very much,” Doncic said in the middle of the court.. He always expressed himself more on the court than with words, but his glassy eyes showed the emotion of the moment.. In those moments before the game, he himself already knew that the party was not going to be complete. A strain in his left calf – as evidenced by a cumbersome bandage – was going to prevent him from playing normally.. “No more than five minutes,” the Mavericks assured. Any other night I wouldn't have tried it. «I have insisted to play. “I can't let people not see me tonight,” he admitted on television.
Florentino Pérez, recovered from covid, presented him with the club's gold and diamond insignia. At the end of the first quarter, Felipe Reyes entertained him with a replica of the Euroleague, unforgettable that Final Four in Belgrade in which Doncic was MVP. No wonder, few ambassadors like Luka will ever have Madrid. In the morning he had promised that, if one day he returned to Europe, it would be “100%” to Real Madrid.. And at night, half lame, the starter, he left a few minutes of magic with three-pointers, dancing and smiling with his friend Sergio Llull, who welcomed him with three in a row. Later he also formed a pair with Rudy Fernández, leaving nothing to chance, his two teachers in front, snapshots forever with the crème de la crème in the front row: Bodiroga, Antonio Martín, Jorge Garbajosa, Toni Kross, Courtois…
Doncic, with Florentino Pérez. AFP
It was the ninth time that Real Madrid faced an NBA team, 35 years after that introductory visit by Larry Bird's Celtics. Seven years ago, the last time, the Thunder were defeated in overtime, like the Raptors in 2007, dazzled by the first magic tricks of a certain Llull, the same one who years later would dare to reject their offer. Obviously, beyond the show, the competitiveness was not going to be extreme. The whites travel to Istanbul today, where on Thursday they will face Efes in the second day of the Euroleague. Jason Kidd's men, with Kyrie Irving dressed in street clothes on the bench, come straight from Abu Dhabi, where they already played two exhibition duels. Their preseason is still in its infancy and they did not go out of their way to avoid the final avalanche of their rival.
The first half, which dawned with a three-point contest, was even. But in the rotations the Texas team became strong, going into the break ahead, with 18 points from Tim Hardaway while Doncic was already watching, sitting next to Jason Kidd, with his sweatshirt on and non-stop joking with his former teammates. .
In Madrid Tavares returned and his exciting youth players Ndiaye, Diagne and Hugo González once again had minutes. But those who took it personally were Llull and, above all, Poirier (19 points). Even so, the NBA rhythm did not let him get into the battle until the end. Before the end of the third quarter, the Mavericks were already close to 100 points. Campazzo's last rush, with the visitors' substitutes, led to an exciting ending and a trademark comeback: Madrid did not miss the mark of another victory against an NBA team (127-123).