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Spanish League Semifinals, Game 5: June 12, 2007 |
Real Madrid and Winterthur FC Barcelona advanced to the Spanish League finals! Both archrivals will face each other in the Spanish basketball superclassic and the chance to win yet another league title by downing DKV Joventut and Tau Ceramica, respectivaly, in the best-of-five semifinals. Real Madrid had to battle hard to edge DKV Joventut 65-61 in front of 13,780 fans at Palacio Vistalegre in Game 5 on Tuesday to win the series 3-2. Louis Bullock led the winners with 16 points, including key free throws in the final minute. Raul Lopez added 13 while Felipe Reyes and Alex Mumbru each added 11 for Madrid. Rudy Fernandez led Joventut with 15 points while Elmer Bennett had 13. Meanwhile, Winterthur FCB thrashed Tau Ceramica 79-95 in Vitoria in Game 5 also on Tuesday. Gianluca Basile had 24 points for Barcelona, that won the series 2-3. Juan Carlos Navarro added 23 despite fouling out in the third quarter while Roger Grimau had 10 for the winners. Serkan Erdogan had 19 points for Tau while Luis Scola and Tiago Splitter each added 12.
In Vitoria, Tau had a strong start, as consecutive triples by Erdogan allowed the hosts to get a 13-8 lead midway through the first quarter. Barcelona has its own go-to guy in Navarro, who hit back-to-back "bombas" that Basile followed with a triple to get the guests within 20-19 after 10 minutes. A 0-7 run that Basile capped with a basket gave Barcelona a 20-26 lead, but Erdogan, Igor Rakocevic and Lou Roe allowed Tau to stay in the game, 38-38, at halftime. Free throws by Splitter gave Tau its last lead, 44-43. Navarro took over with 9 points in a game-breaking 0-11 run that put Barcelona in charge for good, 46-57. He fouled out immediately after that, but Jaka Lakovic and Grimau scored from downtown while Roko-Leni Ukic added a driving layup for a 55-67 Barcelona margin after three quarters. Basile and Grimau led another 0-11 run that broke the game open, 64-86, and allowed Barcelona to make it to the Spanish League finals.
In Madrid, Joventut had troubles to score in the early going, while Mumbru and Reyes allowed Madrid to get a 12-4 margin after 6 minutes. Bennett and Andy Betts got Joventut going, whiel a 0-6 run that Ferran Laviña capped with a buzzer-beating driving layup got the guests within 18-17 after 10 minutes. Bullock and Kerem Tunceri managed to keep Madrid ahead for the best part of the second quarter, but a wild triple by Fernandez made Joventut get as close as 33-32 at halftime. Lopez hit back-to-back triples early in the third quarter and he soon added another basket for a 46-41 Madrid edge. Paco Vazquez and Dimitri Flis stroke from downtown and even when Charles Gaines missed an uncontested dunk, Joventut still led 46-47 after 30 minutes. A three-pointer by Charles Smith sparked an 8-1 run that Lopez capped with free throws to give Madrid a 56-51 lead with 3 minutes to go. Fernandez stepped up with back-to-back triples to get Joventut within 59-57. Reyes scored inside but Flis dunked it and Fernandez collected a steal at 61-59. He missed twice in the next Joventut offense, while Bullock hot 4 of 4 free throws in the final 18 seconds to take Madrid to the finals.
SPANISH LEAGUE: Semifinal Playoffs,
best of 5 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | 2 | Tau Ceramica (1) | 81 | 76 | 78 | 77 | 79 | 3 | Winterthur FCB (4) | 73 | 83 | 80 | 71 | 95 | 3 | Real Madrid (2) | 72 | 69 | 71 | 72 | 65 | 2 | DKV Joventut (3) | 70 | 76 | 85 | 70 | 61 |
Semifinal Playoffs Games | | Game 1 | Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB | 81-73 | June 1 | | Game 1 | Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut | 72-70 | May 31 | | Game 2 | Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB | 76-83 | June 3 | | Game 2 | Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut | 69-76 | June 3 | | Game 3 | Winterthur FCB vs. Tau Ceramica | 80-78 | June 8 | | Game 3 | DKV Joventut vs. Real Madrid | 85-71 | June 7 | | Game 4 | Winterthur FCB vs. Tau Ceramica | 71-77 | June 10 | | Game 4 | DKV Joventut vs. Real Madrid | 70-72 | June 9 | | Game 5 | Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB | 79-95 | June 12 | | Game 5 | Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut | 65-61 | June 12 |
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Tuesday, June 12, 2007
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Euroleague.net |
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