Pedro Martínez's first official game as Real Madrid head coach required 45 minutes and a buzzer-beating three-pointer to be decided. The white team defeated Dubai 98-95 in overtime and will play Saturday in the SuperCup final against Olympiacos.
The three-pointer that changed everything
Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot decided the game. The French small forward took over the final quarter with three three-pointers, and the last one, with 25 seconds remaining, tied the game at 88 and forced overtime.
Dubai still had the final possession of regulation to win it: Thomas Walkup launched a three-pointer that didn't fall.
Back-and-forth overtime
Madrid came out strong in overtime and quickly went up eight (96-88), but the game wasn't decided. Elie Okobo, the best of the Emiratis, brought his team back into the fight, and Dubai had a three-pointer to force a second overtime. McKinley Wright missed it and the final score remained 98-95.
https://youtu.be/hSAsSbKH7T8?si=TEG1TA5Q8JYz1EhB
The numbers
Luwawu-Cabarrot and Edy Tavares shared the scoring lead for Madrid with 20 points each. Gaby Deck added 15 and Jaime Pradilla, 13.
For Dubai, Okobo finished with 24 points and Dwayne Bacon added 19.
For Luwawu-Cabarrot, this is the third consecutive decisive game: he had already been Madrid's best player in the Costa del Sol against La Laguna Tenerife, with 26 points and a 27 rating, and stood out again in the final against Unicaja.
A final with recent history
On Saturday at 7:00 p.m., Real Madrid faces Olympiacos in the first SuperCup final. It's a rematch of the last EuroLeague final, played in Athens and won by the Greeks.
Three hours earlier, at 4:00 p.m., Dubai and Fenerbahce will play for third place.