Defeat against Real Madrid in the first “Sold Out” at the Roig Arena (82-96)

Valencia Basket were unable to prevent Real Madrid from ending their winning streak, losing 82-96 in a Roig Arena that, for the first time, displayed a “sold out” sign and supported its team until the very end—even during moments of clear dominance by the visitors—in a game that the Madrid side definitively broke open between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth.

The orange team struggled early on to find solutions against the visitors’ defensive approach, which saw them fall behind by as many as nine points. Montero sparked Valencia’s offense late in the first quarter to cut the deficit, and a strong start to the second put the home side ahead. They managed to stay in front until a burst of offensive inspiration from Mario Hezonja turned the score around again, sending the teams into halftime with Valencia trailing by four.

The Croatian forward strung together eight consecutive points after the break, establishing a new largest lead for Real Madrid. Valencia Basket tried to stay in the game through defense and managed to close the gap to four with a couple of three-pointers, but a strong finish to the third quarter by the visitors left them trailing by twelve entering the final period. That positive momentum for the away side continued at the start of the fourth quarter, opening a gap that ultimately proved decisive and sealed the game.

Post-game quotes: Pedro Martínez

Everything adds up or everything subtracts. I think that for us, before even talking about tactical matters, we were a bit lacking in energy. We were missing a bit of bite. And they played much better—two players who were very decisive today were Tavares and Hezonja. I think that in the first half we had a poor start, but then we recovered and could even have gone into halftime with a better score. But once again, the start of the third quarter was very strong from them, or very poor from us—both things—and that’s where they broke the game open. They were far superior; whether due to tactics or their physicality, they clearly outplayed us, and we have to acknowledge that.