Dek gave the “chore” to Real

In a match of “chore” and with excessive mistakes on both sides, Real Madrid defeated Zalgiris Kaunas in “Zalgirio Arena” 64-62 with a basket by Dek in the 1” before the end in the first match of the 34th game of the Euroleague and formally took the first place in the regular season, awaiting their playoff opponent through next week’s play ins, leaving the Lithuanian champions in 13th or 14th place.

The “merenches” reached +6 at the end of the first half, but Manek’s three-pointers in the fourth period brought the lead and that of Evans at 62-62 at 7” before the final phase.

The leaders of the European champions were Moussa with 17 and Hezonia with 16 points. For the Lithuanian champions, Manek and Evans stood out with 14 points.

The match

Musa’s back-to-back three-pointers brought the double score for Real Madrid. A 5-0 run by Zalgiris made it 9-8 for the Lithuanians, but there the European champion went on an 8-0 run and reached 9-16 at the end of the first period with consecutive three-pointers and excessive misses from both under the two rackets.

Hezonia’s three-pointer brought +10 to the start of the second period and the “merenches” kept +8 to +10 in that period. A 6-0 run by the European champions was reduced to 15-21 by the right actions of the Zalgiris players inside the Madrid racket. Poirier took action and a 4-0 run of his own made it +10 again for the Spanish, despite poor shooting percentages on both sides. A 5-0 run by Zalgiris reduced it to 20-25 and Schmitz’s three-pointer to 23-27, but that’s when Deck “woke up” and with his own efforts inside the racket the half ended at 25-31. Zalgiris had 3/17 three-pointers and 18 rebounds and Real 5/16 three-pointers and 25 rebounds.

Evans’ 3-pointer cut it to 28-31 at the start of the third period, but a 4-0 run by Real made it +7 for Chus Mateo’s men. The “merenches” reached 34-43 with Ambalde and with few good choices in the opposing racket and Yabusele brought it 36-44, but there the poor defense of Real brought the 6-0 run for Zalgiris with offensive polyphony in the Spanish racket and 42-44 at the end of the quarter.

Manek’s 3-pointer made it 45-44 for Zalgiris at the start of the fourth quarter, but Hezonia’s personal 5-0 run made it +4 for Real. With a three-pointer by the Croatian forward, it became 47-52, but Manek was “on fire” and with two three-pointers he made it 53-52 for the Lithuanians. Real’s new 5-0 run made it 53-57, but Manek continued his “crescendo” from 6.75 and Evans’ three-pointer made it 59-59 at 1:39. Moussa’s 3-pointer made it 59-62 and in the last minute and a half there were misses on both sides until Hayes’ 3-pointer made it 62-62 at 7”, but at 1” Deck received Yule’s assist and made it 62- 64.

Gabriel Deck with the Game-winner ??#MotorolaMagicMoment l @Moto pic.twitter.com/3OxPxwYn0x

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) April 11, 2024