Real Madrid defeated La Laguna Tenerife 90-97 in their first game of the 15th edition of the Costa del Sol Tournament, held in Marbella, and will face Unicaja in Saturday's final. Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot was the standout performer with 26 points and a rating of 27.
A high-paced contest
The opening was frenetic. Tavares opened the scoring and Campazzo extended the lead with a three-pointer (0-5), though the Tenerife side responded from beyond the arc. Two three-pointers from Chuma Okeke contained the comeback and the entry of Luwawu-Cabarrot provided breathing room to close the first quarter at 25-29.
The second period slowed down and La Laguna turned the scoreboard around with consecutive three-pointers from Van Beck and Bamba (34-32). Madrid dominated the boards but lost their shooting touch, until three points from Abalde and an unstoppable Luwawu-Cabarrot—15 points and 4-for-4 from three at that point—restored control (37-45). The Canary Islanders picked up the pace in the final stretch and went into halftime ahead (53-49).
The second-half response
The second half maintained the intensity. With a collective defensive effort and contributions from Tavares, Mikael Jantunen, and Damian Jones, Madrid recovered the lead (58-66). Tenerife replied with a 10-2 run, but Andrés Feliz and once again Luwawu-Cabarrot maintained the advantage until 70-74 at the end of the third quarter.
The final period came wide open. With six minutes remaining, a three-pointer from Gaby Deck began to tip the scales and another from Shulga put distance between the teams (78-85). From there on, defensive solidity and scoreboard management until the final 90-97.
The two key takeaways
Beyond the result, the night provided two relevant updates regarding the Real Madrid roster.
The first is that Gaby Deck is on the court and scoring. The small forward withdrew two weeks ago from the Argentina-Puerto Rico game with a shoulder issue that had raised concerns, and his three-pointer was key to the outcome.
The second is the debut of Damian Jones, the center signed in late August, who contributed 5 points and participated in Madrid's third-quarter comeback. It is his first experience in European basketball.
Madrid will look to defend their Costa del Sol title on Saturday against Unicaja at 7:00 p.m.
La Laguna Tenerife: Bamba (10), Fitipaldo (6), Abromaitis (8), Happ (3) and Kurucs (0) —starting five—; Guy (17), Fernández (12), Van Beck (8), López-Arostegui (8), Shermanidi (5), Hunter (7), Alderete (0) and Doornekamp (6)
Real Madrid: Shulga (5), Pradilla (2), Campazzo (9), Procida (2) and Tavares (12) —starting five—; Luwawu-Cabarrot (26), Abalde (7), Okeke (9), Deck (5), Jantunen (7), Feliz (8) and Jones (5)