FC Barcelona - R. Madrid: Cruel end to the Copa del Rey (76-77)

The Copa del Rey slipped away from Barça in the last second of the final against Real Madrid. The Blaugrana dominated in the first half, and after Real Madrid’s response in the second, Barça managed to fight back from a seven-point deficit in the final two minutes of the game. A 2 + 1 from Oleson gave Barça the lead, but Sergio Llull had the final say when he hit a buzzer beater for the title.

Barça B were aggressive and focused in the Martín Carpena. They scored the first basket – a fantastic dunk from Tomic followed by a foul from Rudy. Madrid took the lead thanks to three-pointers (4-8, min 8), while Lorbek led Barça’s attack. A total of 10 points were scored between the Slovenian and Tomic (10-10, min 6).

On 14 minutes Madrid had a three-point lead over Barça (27-24), and it was obvious that Barça were missing Navarro’s points – the Catalan player was very well defended. The first three pointer for Barça (1/9 at that point in the game) was scored by Abrines on 17 minutes.

The rhythm was electric. And finally Barça’s exterior players got in the groove. Nachbar and Abrines catapulted Barça to the lead before the break (42-38).

It took Real Madrid only two minutes at the start of the second half to turn the game around (44-46). Los Blancos seemed inspired going forward, and Rudy was merciless. The asphyxiating pressure on Navarro and a 5-13 run saw the Blaugrana relinquish their lead (47-51, min 25). It was Marcelinho Huertas who brought Barça back from the brink. On 27 minutes the two teams were locked at 53 points apiece.

The final quarter started and everything was up for grabs (59-60). Barça were loading up on team fouls and it didn’t help that Mirotic stepped up to lead Madrid. Each attack was vital. Two free throws missed by Navarro and a layup by Rodríguez gave Madrid a small lead (64-68, min 36). A three pointer from Mirotic with two minutes left on the clock put Madrid nearly beyond reach (64-71).

But Barça were not about to give up. A three pointer from Oleson and a basket from Huertas put the scoreline at 73 to 75 with 23 seconds left on the clock. Oleson scored a 2+1, which put Barça ahead, but Llull nailed a buzzer beater and thus claimed the title for Madrid.