FC Barcelona Lassa fall in Game 4, end season in defeat

FC Barcelona Lassa fall in Game 4, end season in defeat

The Catalans come up short in Madrid, 91-84, and are unable to force a Game 5

FC Barcelona’s season had a not-so-happy ending on Wednesday night in Madrid, falling to Real Madrid, 91–84, in Game 4 of the ACB Finals, and having to watch their arch-rivals celebrate a second consecutive title by winning the best-of-five series, 3–1.

Shooting guard Tomas Satoransky and center Ante Tomic put in a pair of herculean efforts, as each man posted 17 points on the evening. Satoransky also dished out 5 assists and Tomic grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds. But it was not enough.

Real Madrid point guard Sergio Llull led Game 4 with 21 points and was named the MVP of the Finals.

Juan Carlos Navarro played 31 minutes and put up 14 points in the losing effort.

Game 4 was something of a microcosm of the series in general. The Catalans won Game 1 on a dramatic last-second basket, but lost the next three.

On Wednesday night, it seemed, early on, that Barça had every intention of forcing a fifth and deciding game, coming out of the gates firing on all cylinders.

Barça were up 26–19 at the start of the second quarter. Tomic and Satoranksy led the team at both ends of the court.

Real Madrid, however, closed the deficit to just a basket by halftime. Llull led the way for Madrid with shooting guard Rudy Fernández providing support, handing out two assists and snatching a pair of big rebounds in the second quarter.

But Barça were resilient and managed to reopen a small lead early on in the third.

Trey Thompkins nailed a three-pointer midway through the third quarter to give Madrid a 56-55 lead. The game see-sawed for the next few minutes, and as the third quarter was drawing to a close, Real Madrid managed to open up a seven-point lead, their biggest of the game.

Barça fought hard throughout the fourth, even drawing to within a basket with just three minutes to play, but Madrid was able to weather the storm and a 19–19 fourth quarter was indicative of what largely turned out to be an exercise in trading baskets.

Força Barça
Força Barça

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