Last-gasp 78-77 win takes Barça Lassa into Game 4 against Real Madrid

Barça Lassa beat Real Madrid in a tense encounter at the Palau Blaugrana to take their Liga Endesa playoff series to a fourth game. A late turnaround in a must-win showdown, coupled with a miss in the final second of the contest by Madrid's Thompkins, meant Barça pulled the series back to 2-1.

An even encounter

The tone for the game was set in the first period, with neither side able to establish a comfortable advantage. Tomic and Heurtel would take the lead to 27-21 on 14 minutes with their early scoring, but the outside play from Madrid saw Llull, Thompkins, Rudy and Carroll all strike back with 3-pointers during the course of the game. A 2-16 streak from Los Blancos kept things close, and on the halftime buzzer the score was 34-40.

Consecutive triples from Taylor and Randolph started off the third quarter, giving way to a 12-0 partial to Barça thanks to Heurtel, Kuric and Singleton. They went ahead, 50-49, at the end of the run.

Things continued in back-and-forth fashion, with Real Madrid doing damage from outside. They would put themselves back in front, 58-62, at the beginning of the final quarter.

Late drama

A solo move by Hanga was finished off by a Smits 3-pointer, and a dunk by Oriola shook the game up and took the Blaugranes to within a point, although Rudy and Campazzo struck again from beyond the permiter to make it 71-77.

The final minute was one of the most exciting of the season. Spurred on by the Palau, and trailing the game, Barça fought back through a Kuric triple, plus baskets from Heurtel and Singleton, to go on a 7-0 partial that proved crucial. Thompkins missed late on for Madrid, and Barça took the series to Game 4.

Game Stats

Barça Lassa, 78

Real Madrid, 77

Barça Lassa: Pangos (3), Singleton (12), Oriola (7), Kuric (10) i Claver (-) – starting 5 – Hanga (9), Heurtel (21), Tomic (11) and Smits (5)

Reial Madrid: Randolph (6), Rudy (12), Campazzo (18), Tavares (4) i Deck (-) – starting 5 –Carroll (10), Llull (5), Ayón (-), Thompkins (18), Taylor (3), Causeur (-),

Partials: 19-18 / 15-22 / 22-18 / 22-19

Referees: Daniel Hierrezuelo, Carlos Cortés and Vicente Bultó