February 09, 2012
Spanish League finals, Game 3: June 22, 2007
Juan Carlos Navarro - Winterthur FCB Winterthur F.C. Barcelona avoided a sweep and kept the Spanish League finals alive on Friday by turning back hard-charging Real Madrid 75-70 at home in Game 3 of their best-of-five series. Barcelona scored the games first 15 points, but needed to come from behind in the final quarter to survive. A three-pointer coverted by Juan Carlos Navarro with just over 4 minutes left gave Barcelona the lead back for good and assured a Game 4 on its home court again on Sunday. Navarro led the winners with 18 points, half on three-pointers crowded into the beginning and end of the game. Jaka Lakovic added 11 points for the winners and Denis Marconato 10 plus 7 rebounds, 6 of those on the offensive glass. Barcelona's big men concentrated better on the hero of the first two games, Madrid forward Felipe Reyes, limiting him to 5 points and 6 rebounds on the night. Louis Bullock was the big gun for Madrid with 21 points, 11 of which bridged the third and fourth quarters and gave the visitors their first lead. Kerem Tunceri followed with 12 points while Axel Hervelle pulled 11 rebounds for Madrid.

Navarro nailed 2 of his triples and Marconato added 4 points as Barcelona blasted off to a 15-0 lead in the game's first 5 minutes. Raul Lopez finally got Madrid on the board with a free throw, but it was all the guests could do to limit the damage after one quarter to 24-8. With Tunceri scoring his team's first triple and 7 points altogether in a 4-12 run, Madrid lowered the gap to single digits at 29-22 and was able to sustain the same difference until the half ended 39-32. Even after Rodrigo De la Fuente, Navarro and Mario Kasun combined for Barcelona on the second half's first 6 points, Madrid kept coming back. Tunceri got help from Bullock, Hervelle and Eduardo Hernandez-Sonseca to keep closing the gap. Then Bullock exploded for all 6 points in the final minute of the third quarter, giving the visitors their first lead, 53-54. His 5 points at the start of the fourth quarter put Madrid in front by 55-59, where the score held for 2 minutes until Jordi Trias and Marconato tied for Barcelona. That set up Navarro's go-ahead triple and solid finish that let Barcelona live to fight another day.

SPANISH LEAGUE: Final Playoffs, best of 5 games
RecordTeam
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
2
Real Madrid (2)
69
83
70
June 24
June 26*
1
Winterthur FCB (4)
62
80
75
-
-

Final Playoffs Games
Game 1
Real Madrid vs. Winterthur FCB
69-62
June 17
Game 2
Real Madrid vs. Winterthur FCB
83-80
June 19
Game 3
Winterthur FCB vs. Real Madrid
75-70
June 22
Game 4
Winterthur FCB vs. Real Madrid
-
June 24
Game 5
Real Madrid vs. Winterthur FCB
-
June 26*
Saturday, June 23, 2007
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