Barcelona shuts down WiZink and is declared champion of the Endesa League (82-93)

Barcelona were crowned champions of the Endesa League this Tuesday thanks to an 82-93 victory over Real Madrid in the third game of the play-off final, a 3-0 aggregate victory and the crowning of the 2022 season title in 2023 that Nikola Mirotic wanted to say goodbye to the Blaugrana club in style.

In the packed WiZink Center, which was deafening in the early stages, the visitors started 0-4, which they soon neutralized and turned the white team around with a three-pointer by Dzanan Musa and a dunk by Guerschon Yabusele. Then Nikola Mirotic, the target of the public’s whistles, opened his private account, scoring the first of three goals.

That leveled the contest as Real Madrid responded in kind, thanks to a choral contribution. Adam Hanga and Mario Hezonja converted points thanks to the fluidity of playmaker Nigel Williams-Goss, while Musa saw good passing lanes. The starting five of the home team brought more income, so Barcelona made a move.

Kule’s coach, Sarunas Jasikevicius, gave oxygen to his main assets except for Mirotic, who was only replaced by Sertac Sanli. Well defended, Nikola Kalinić carried discreet figures in the racket and Rokas Jokubaitis took the baton, overtaking Tomas Satoransky to play 2 instead of 1.

Despite ending the first period with a 21-20 deficit, the blaugranas knew how to stack the dice and extend the lead to 22-29 thanks to a three-pointer from Kalinić, which relieved the pressure due to previous failures. The local coach, Chus Mateo, responded with a timeout that Rudy Fernández knew how to interpret as an instant arreón.

With two actions protested in separate attacks by Barça, Fabien Causeur’s drive to the basket resulted in a 2+1 score, after another personal foul by Nic Laprovittola, to make the run 9-2 with WiZink boosting his team. Mateo entrusted the fight to the sacred cows, with Sergio Rodríguez and Sergio Llull at the helm.

Unfortunately for El Chacho, Causeur combined his attacks well with Llulla, the author of a three-pointer to equalize (36-36) just over two minutes before the break. Sam Causeur opened the gap (39-36) with another long basket, so Jasikevicius changed his strategy in the low post, trusting Oscar Da Silva and James Nnaji.

Sanli was accused of fouls, Mirotic was dry for many minutes and Jan Vesely, with his spy out of focus, suffered the display of high players in Barca. Neither Laprovittola, Álex Abrines nor Kyle Kuric were able to solidify the dream first half, to be more precise, but the Catalans prevented the wound from opening at halftime (41-38).

In fact, the visiting team came back from the locker room looking different, starting with 0-6 goals from Laprovittola and Vesely, already strained. The Argentine even increased the culé advantage to 45-49 with a three-pointer, just like Mirotic to 47-52 at the same time when the centers on the Real Madrid side stood out.

The insistence of Edy Tavares and Yabusele kept the locals in conflict (59-59). In contrast, Barca’s B unit was weak apart from the brilliance of Jokubaitis. And there Chus Mateo found a way to do the damage, getting Vincent Poirier back on track, who met El Chacho to raise the stands with a dunk (62-61).

Another good action by the French center, also a pass from the canary, was answered by a three-pointer from Kalinić to end the 30th minute with 66-67 for Cule. Mirotic scored another three-pointer as soon as the fourth period began, following a Jokubaitis basket that made Chusu Mate uncomfortable; a timeout, ipso facto, was called by the local coach.

Hezonja, somewhat subdued all night, played a good offensive game, but missed a vital free throw at 68-72. The Catalans were up 72-79 in the middle of the third, so Real Madrid entrusted their future to Tavares’ intimidation under the boards. Vesely responded in spurts with temperament in several well-timed baskets.

Only Tavares can’t

With the score 73-81 five minutes before the end, the Madrid team slipped away, and only Tavares acted as a beacon in the attack. To make matters worse, in defense almost everything happened to stop Laprovittola, Vesely’s constant assistant. On the merengue side, in addition, the two triples of Causeur and Chacho Rodríguez did not enter the hot moments.

With each well-made basket, Barça gradually came to the title, although this time Chacho reduced the gap with a three-pointer (80-85). At 1:38 from the last whistle, Mirotić danced Hezonja under the hoop; The Spaniard-Montenegro scored, took a Croatian free kick and made the entire visiting bench stand up in happiness.

Mirotic, the man of the final more out of sports than sports, transformed the free kick into a +10 advantage for Barcelona (80-90). It sounded like a sentence and the Berserkers took it as such, singing songs to preemptively ease the rest of WiZink’s restlessness. The last shots remained, but there was no epic.

The Meringues used up their heroic cartridges a month before in the Euroleague, which culminated successfully for their interests. However, the Endesa League brought down the curtain with the outcome controlled by Barcelona until they became the arch-rivals’ domestic champions. 82-93, time is running out and hugs everywhere, and Mirotic monopolizes the spotlight.

Technical document

REAL MADRID: Williams-Goss (4), Hanga (4), Musa (9), Yabusele (10) and Tavares (19) –starting five– Sergio Rodríguez (3), Hezonja (7), Causeur (11) , Llull (8), Rudy Fernández (-) and Poirier (7).

BARCELONA: Satoransky (8), Laprovittola (12), Abrines (2), Mirotic (14) and Vesely (21) –starting five–; Sanli (6), Kalinić (10), Kurić (3), Jokubaitis (13), Nnaji (2) and Da Silva (4).

PARTIAL: 21-20, 20-18, 25-29 and 16-26.

REFEREES: Peruga, Jiménez and Torres. No deleted.

PAVILION: WiZink Center, 11,965 spectators.