By Alex Molina/ info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid produced a dominant performance to defeat Kosner Baskonia 121-80 in the Memorial Urbano González Escapa, a charity preseason game held in León in support of the fight against ALS.
The Madrid side controlled the game from the outset and turned their second preseason outing into an offensive showcase. By halftime, the scoreboard read 78-39, giving Real Madrid a staggering 39-point advantage after just 20 minutes.
Facundo Campazzo was one of the standout performers for Madrid in the first half, scoring 16 points, while AJ Lawson led Baskonia with 9 points.
The gap continued to grow after the break. With one minute remaining in the third quarter, Real Madrid had extended their lead to 106-56, leaving the final period as little more than a formality.
Madrid eventually closed out the game with a 121-80 victory, bouncing back from their 110-102 defeat to Río Breogán in their first preseason game.
For Baskonia, the game marked the beginning of their preseason campaign, but the circumstances surrounding their trip to León were far from ideal.
The game itself had been in doubt because of the team’s extensive injury list. Baskonia sporting director Félix Fernández admitted on Thursday that the possibility of playing the game was looking “bad” because of the accumulation of injuries.
Despite the difficulties, the club decided to make the trip and take part in the charity event. That was in contrast to Wednesday’s scheduled game against Gipuzkoa, which had to be postponed because of the team’s lack of available players.
Baskonia were forced to rely on several players helping the team during preseason, as well as members of their reserve side, to fill out the squad.
One of the most notable absences was Kenneth Faried. The American center, whose signing was announced more than a week ago, has yet to join the team. According to Félix Fernández, Faried still needs to resolve personal matters before travelling to Vitoria, meaning his Baskonia debut will have to wait. The team is also without Khalifa Diop, who has moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Dejan Kravic was another unavailable player.
On top of that, DJ Stewart, AJ Lawson, Tadas Sedekerskis and Markus Howard have all been dealing with various muscular problems, further limiting the options available to the Italian coaching staff.
Hapoel Tel Aviv defeats Partizan
The other game of the day featuring Euroleague games had Hapoel Tel Aviv and Partizan as its protagonists. In the end, it was the Israeli team who got the victory thanks to a 83-94 final scoreboard.
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