Real overcome monster Mirotic's performance and advance to EuroLeague final / News - Basketnews.com

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Real Madrid interrupted this season's FC Barcelona curse by taking down their archrivals,86-83 (19-19, 15-26, 26-11, 26-27), and advancing to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague final. Ergin Ataman's Anadolu Efes await Real in the ultimate match of the competition.

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Real bested Barca in the pre-season Spanish SuperCup, but then lost five straight times: twice in the EuroLeague, twice in the Spanish League, and once in the Spanish Cup final.

It will be the fifth EuroLeague final for Pablo Lasso since 2013. He will seek his third title during this period.

After a superb third quarter, Real did not stop in the decisive tally. Yabusele made a tough three-pointer and Real had plus 7 (73-66) with 4:30 to go. However, Laprovittola drained two triples in a row to cut Barca's deficit to only 2 points (73-75). That was not the end as Mirotic grabbed an offensive board and tied the game at 75 with 2:40 to play.

Though, Causeur drained a three-pointer, stole the ball, converted a fast-break layup and Real were up by 5 (80-75). After a timeout, Calathes and Davies brought Barca within one (79-80) with 1:18 to go.

Real got a stop, Poirier missed but Llull nailed a crucial two-pointer (82-79) with 21 seconds on the clock. Abrines sank a deep duo, stepping on a three-point line, and one point separated the teams again (81-82). Hanga converted both shots from the charity stripe, while Exum scored on the other end (83-84).

Llull was fouled with 5.3 seconds to go. The Spanish veteran scored the first one, missed the second but Yabusele got a vital offensive rebound. He sank one shot (86-83) and sealed the deal for Real.

Guerschon Yabusele led the route for the winners, posting 18 points (2/3 2PT, 4/6 3PT, 2/4 FT), 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 24 PIR.

Fabien Causeur aided his countryman with 18 points (5/10 2PT, 1/2 3PT, 5/5 FT) as well, adding 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 1 turnover for a PIR of 18.

Player of the Game EFF 24 Guerschon Yabusele Points 18 Accuracy 6-9 Rebounds 8 Assists 1

"I think it was a great game from our players. We followed the plan very well, we lost Nigel [Williams-Goss] in 20 seconds but we adjusted very quickly and found solutions defensively and offensively. I'm very proud of my players," Pablo Laso said post-game.

Nikola Mirotic was outstanding for Barca, accumulating 26 points (4/7 2PT, 4/7 3PT, 6/6 FT), 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, and 39 PIR.

"We did not do anything that we planned. In the first half, we were up by 11 but the only thing we talked about was that Real Madrid missed all the shots and we were looking good, but we were not doing the details that are so huge in these games," Barca's head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said after the game.

"When Madrid hit some shots, and at the end, they hit some difficult ones, they started scoring and it was too many points. Too many rebounds after foul shots, miscommunications. It's painful. Attention to detail is not with us," Jasikevicius spoke.

Powered by terrific Nikola Mirotic, Barcelona finished the second quarter on an 11-2 run to lead Real Madrid 45-34 at halftime.

EuroLeague's MVP had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 19 PIR over 14 minutes in the first half.

Meanwhile, the start of the game was disastrous for Nigel Williams-Goss. He severely rolled his ankle in the first minute of the match and was forced to leave the court in serious pain.

Real came with whole different energy into the second half. Led by Alberto Abalde, Los Blancos first spurted 7-0 (41-47) and then went on another run to finish the third tally.

Real were down 43-54 in the mid-third period, but organized a 17-2 run to go up 60-56 before the last 10 minutes of the match. That's a 17-2 push, fueled by Fabien Causeur who had 9 points in the third quarter alone.

Real: Guerschon Yabusele 18 (8 REB), Fabien Causeur 18, Sergio Llull 15, Walter Tavares 8, Alberto Abalde 7, Gabriel Deck 7 (7 REB).

Barcelona: Nikola Mirotic 26 (12 REB, 5 AST), Nicolas Laprovittola 17, Brandon Davies 15 (5 REB), Alex Abrines 7, Dante Exum 7.

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