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    (VIDEO) Real Madrid jumps on Facundo Campazzo’s back to win dramatic Game 1 against Hapoel Tel Aviv

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    By on EuroLeague, Hapoel Tel Aviv, News, Real Madrid
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    Real Madrid opened their playoff series against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the EuroLeague quarterfinals in great style, taking Game 1 at home 86-82.

    After defeating the Israeli side not once, but twice, the side of Sergio Scariolo was determined to try to extend that streak of wins and use their overwhelming experience of 13 consecutive EuroLeague quarterfinal appearances to overwhelm the side of Dimitris Itoudis at home in their first ever playoff appearance in the competition, in front of what was ultimately a packed MoviStar Arena despite there being no fans in Madrid in the first clash in Spain this season.

    Both sides suffered painful setbacks to their rotations as key pieces had to leave the game due to injuries; big man Walter Tavares fell down and held his knee early in the first quarter, and exited the game being unable to return. Conversely, Elijah Bryant, who has probably been the best player for the team from Tel Aviv this season, also had to head to the locker room at the end of the first quarter due to an ankle injury, leaving both teams short a crucial piece in their starting lineup. 

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    Unbelievably, Hapoel Tel Aviv club president Ofer Yannay showed up to the game wearing the scarf of Valencia, Real Madrid’s big rival. This seemed to fire up the home crowd even more which gave their players an extra boost of energy early on.

    That seemed evident that they were in a much better rhythm in large part thanks to Facundo Campazzo starting the game on fire, hitting four three-pointers in six minutes to spearhead his team to a 25-13 lead early. A couple of baskets from Antonio Blakeney cut the deficit to 27-18 at the end of the first quarter but it was obvious that the defense of Hapoel Tel Aviv was all over the place as they could do little to contain Real Madrid.

    The Spanish side quickly answered with a 7-0 run to go back up by double digits, as Trey Lyles started dominating against the undersized and undermanned Hapoel Tel Aviv frontline with the Real Madrid lead going up to as much as 20 points (46-26). In fact, Scariolo’s team did not commit a single turnover in the first 18 minutes of play as it seemed Real Madrid could do almost whatever they wanted to get to the basket without many issues.

    It was only thanks to more baskets from Blakeney and several dunks by big man Dan Oturu that the visitors cut the lead to 48-33 at half-time but he could not be happy with his team’s play as they had more turnovers than assists in the first half.

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    The backcourt tandem of Blakeney and Chris Jones kept scoring well in pick-and-roll situations to put the lead down to 10, but the wider rotation of the hosts started doing damage as everybody except Sergio Llull had some sort of offensive contribution for Real Madrid, with more points by Lyles and Mario Hezonja leading to a 70-55 lead at the end of the third quarter. On the other hand, only six players were able to score in this game for the visitors.

    Deep in the fourth quarter, Oturu was fighting for the ball and seemed to be fouled according to the viewpoint of Itoudis, who had a very expressive reaction on the bench. This upset the referees who decided to eject the respected Greek coach who had much to say to the officiating crew on his way to the locker room.

    Hapoel Tel Aviv went down 82-64 and the game seemed basically over at that point. Yet Gabriel Deck made a bad unsportsmanlike foul which gave the visitors the opening they were hoping for. After that, Blakeney caught red hot form making almost everything he tried from three in the next several minutes, along with some key mid-range shots by Jones and several baskets by Micic, launching an 18-4 run to cut the lead to 86-82.

    Yet, after several bad possessions by Campazzo, who was nearly nonexistent in the fourth quarter, Blakeney missed not one but two wide open chances from deep to make it a one possession game, and after several more misses, the game ultimately ended in favor of the hosts from Spain who took Game 1 in much more difficult fashion than needed.

    Facundo Campazzo led his side with 21 points, while Trey Lyles added 13 off the bench. Antonio Blakeney led all scorers with 25 points while Dan Oturu had a dominant double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds, but it was ultimately not enough.

    Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Friday night, in Madrid with a 20:45 tip-off time.

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