Diego Ocampo’s opinion: Barcelona’s hat-tricks against Tavares’ dominance

The game started with the two teams probing each other, probing each other, which led to a tie during the first quarter. In the second third, the Blaugrana knew how to handle the ball better and started to find their way free recordings that seemed key, as they were, especially knowing how to create an offensive advantage.

After the break, he changed the script, rhythm and plan of the meeting. Tavares he imposed his game on defense, with his 15 rebounds and 4 blocks, and on offense, dominating with easy baskets and continuous trips to the free throw line to 20 points. In addition, it was a decisive moment with Sergio Rodriguez as the main protagonist. El Chacho entered “guerrilla mode” scored three baskets in a row with bombs and assisted Tavares for the Cape Verdean to dunk. There was a reversal, Madrid took the helm thanks to the advantage of seven points, which is very difficult to overcome in these situations, even against the whites.

Jasikevicius then opted for defensive risks and new rotations as a last resort to reverse the unfavorable result. However, at that moment, the stress of being in a hurry appeared. They wanted to get close to Madrid quickly, too conditioned by the clock against them, and they abused the three-point shot.

True, in this situation there was not only the responsibility of the blaugranas, but also a lot of mistakes by the whites, who managed the external defense very well. They scored many of their shots and knew how to shape and strengthen in such a way that they directed Barcelona’s attacks towards Tavares, who dominated the paint thanks to his intimidation and “ability” to block and block.

In conclusion, Real Madrid won the crucial game again thanks to three main things: a studied and brilliant defense against Nikola Mirotic with small players, the influence on Tavares’ game, both in defense and attack, and excellent competitiveness of its veterans. Especially from Sergio Rodríguez who is very hard to stop when he goes into “Partizan mode”.

With this, they won a ticket to the new European final, in which they will have to test the character of their most veteran pieces, so decisive in the key moments of such a match.