By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
It started in the worst possible way for Real Madrid, as Walter Tavares went down with an injury just three minutes into the game.
Still, the hosts settled in at Movistar Arena and controlled the pace for most of the night, building a comfortable cushion. Hapoel Tel Aviv mounted a late comeback, but Sergio Scariolo’s side held firm down the stretch to secure an 86–82 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-five quarterfinal series.
Facundo Campazzo led Real Madrid with 21 points, with Trey Lyles adding 13 points and six rebounds, Mario Hezonja scoring 11, and Gabriel Deck finishing with 10.
On the other side, only six Hapoel players scored, with Dan Oturu taking full advantage of Tavares’ absence and dominating the paint. He posted 20 points and 17 rebounds for a PIR of 38, while Antonio Blakeney led all scorers with 25 points. Vasilije Micić added 15 points and seven rebounds, and Chris Jones chipped in 14 points along with eight assists.
It started badly for the hosts, as Walter Tavares landed awkwardly after a rebound battle and went down clutching his knee. He couldn’t put weight on his left leg and limped to the locker room, not returning to the game. Problems quickly followed on the other side, with Elijah Bryant also heading to the locker room. He briefly tried to come back, but couldn’t continue, with coach Dimitris Itoudis confirming at halftime that he was done for the night, leaving Hapoel without a key player while trailing by 15.
Real Madrid protected its lead through the third quarter and went up by as many as 18 midway through the fourth, but Hapoel kept fighting — even after Itoudis was ejected following two technical fouls. Antonio Blakeney sparked a late push with back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to four, but couldn’t convert on his next attempt, while Ish Wainright also missed from deep. A chaotic final possession ended with Chris Jones taking a tough buzzer-beater that wouldn’t have changed the outcome, as Real held on for the win.