Real Madrid advanced to the finals by sweeping Barcelona 3-0 in the Liga Endesa semifinals, clinching the series with a 95:92 win.
In the opening minutes, the home team managed to keep pace with their favored rivals. Despite expectations that the Catalans would perform better with the support of their home crowd, this wasn’t reflected in the early stages of the game. Only Jabari Parker showed any significant scoring for Roger Grimau‘s side, which wasn’t enough to stop the surge of the visitors, who took a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter, hinting at the game’s possible outcome.
Parker later brought some balance back to the game, narrowing Barcelona’s deficit to just three points with the help of Willy Hernangomez, who provided support in the paint and also scored from beyond the arc. After one of his three-pointers, the home team was down by just two points. Despite Real Madrid’s near-total dominance, they carried only a 49-45 lead into halftime, which didn’t guarantee an easy continuation in the second half.
Things started to change drastically at the beginning of the third quarter. Parker continued his aggressive play on offense, which proved to be the right approach for the home team. During one drive, he made a spectacular dunk over Walter Tavares, providing additional “fuel” for his team. In the third quarter, they scored 31 points and took control of the game.
This led to a tense finale, with the game tied entering the last three minutes, leaving everything open. Nico Laprovittola on one side and Facundo Campazzo on the other took on the responsibility, but it was the Madrid team that gained the upper hand when the former Crvena Zvezda player drove to the basket and secured a four-point lead with 20 seconds remaining. This was enough for the “royal club” to secure the victory.
The most instrumental player for Real Madrid was Campazzo, who scored 21 points, followed by Dzanan Musa with 14 points. On the opposing side, the best performer was Parker with 27 points. The Madrid side will face the winner of Murcia-Unicaja series (2-1).
![Facundo Campazzo](https://basketballsphere.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/yFdCdDId-1024x576.jpg)
BARCELONA – REAL MADRID 92:95 (20:28, 25:21, 31:23, 16:23)
Venue: Blaugrana, Barcelona;
Referees: Conde, Torres, Olivares.
Barcelona: Satoransky 12, Hernangomez 17, Laprovittola 7, Abrines 3, Parker 27, Da Silva 6, Pauli, Vesely 4, Brizuela 7, Rubio 7, Jokubaitis, Parra 2.
Real Madrid: Campazzo 21, Hezonja 5, Tavares 13, Yabusele 11, Causeur 6, Fernandez 3, Abalde 3, Rodriguez, Poirier 12, Llull 7, Ndiaye, Musa 14.