No Edy, no problem. Real Madrid reminded us just how capable they are of adapting, even without Walter Tavares. On Friday night, missing arguably their most important player, they just plain decided they would beat Hapoel Tel Aviv in Game 2 of the Euroleague playoffs. Emmet Ryan on the sheer inevitability of Los Blancos.
Losing Walter Tavares, for what looks to be a long time, should have been a huge blow to Real Madrid. Yet, here they sit, 2-0 up in the Euroleague playoffs. This, after Hapoel Tel Aviv delivered a great first half of basketball, felt inevitable. When Edy goes down, someone else steps up.
Los Blancos extended their already ludicrous home record this season to 20-1 in Euroleague and 31-3 in all competitions. Facundo Campazzo, Theo Maledon, and Usman Garuba all showed next man up mentality.
They took the hit
Hapoel Tel Aviv came to play and had a good plan. So often this season, Real Madrid have stepped on the gas in the second quarter to put their opponents in a hole. On both Wednesday and, moreso, Friday, Hapoel fought to stay with them. Indeed, the visitors held the lead at the break.
Yet everything looked smooth for Real Madrid. Walter Tavares is arguably the most important piece on their roster. Only Facundo Campazzo can compare when it comes to on-court impact. Yet they just rolled with it. Alex Len and Usman Garuba effectively combined to fill the Edy-shaped hole in the team.
More importantly, it was the aggregate product that made a difference. Len isn’t Tavares and Real didn’t shy away from that. When he needed help D that Edy wouldn’t, Mario Hezonja or someone else in white was there to pick up the slack.
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Resistance is futile
Just when Hapoel Tel Aviv thought they had the answers, Real Madrid went and changed the question. The run that Los Blancos had to start the third quarter, effectively taking charge of the game, was defined by variety.
The visitors simply didn’t know who was going to hurt them next. Real Madrid has a diverse cast of players. Theo Maledon, Garuba, Hezonja, Facu, and Gabriel Deck gel together brilliantly while having wildly different forms of attack. Deck’s relatively limited usage, only four shots but three of them made, showed the unselfish approach taken by this side.
The team with the most to worry about was a sea of cool heads. Hapoel meanwhile had Vasilije Micic losing his and fouling out on second technical. The difference was staggering. It felt like it didn’t matter who was wearing a white jersey, everyone played with the attitude of those who had done it all before and knew what was needed to do it again. Of course, most of them had done it before in the Euroleague playoffs and it showed.
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The safest 2-0 lead?
Considering Fenerbahce utterly outplayed Zalgiris in both of their games and Olympiacos were even more emphatic against AS Monaco, that may seem a stretch. Yet at least with both of those series, there’s enough of a mix in terms of volatility that while extremely unlikely it’s not entirely unthinkable they would go to a Game 5.
After witnessing Real Madrid’s adjustment tonight, it feels even less plausible that this series will make it back to Madrid. Hapoel Tel Aviv got handed an opportunity, looked ready to take it, then it just vanished. Experience matters in the Euroleague playoffs and Los Blancos made theirs count.
Maybe, maybe, this series lasts until Friday. I doubt it. Even without Walter Tavares, there are match-up issues everywhere for Hapoel. You remove a top 2 player from most contenders and it’s a cause for panic. For Real Madrid, it’s at most a minor inconvenience.
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