Real Madrid retains Spanish league over Barcelona

Real Madrid has retained the Spanish Liga Endesa title with a 91-84 home win over bitter rival Barcelona in Game 4 of the Finals series. Los Blancos took the win in front of its home fans in the Spanish capital and wrapped the league with a 3-1 series win.

The club won three consecutive contests after dropping Game 1 in Barcelona. Game 2 in Catalonia proved to be hugely important and allowed Real Madrid to get the job done on its home floor in the next two ties.

Title success means Real Madrid has won two Liga Endesa crowns on the spin after also tasting success in 2015. The defending champs simply had too much for Barcelona and Madrid has now lifted three of the last four titles. Victory also enhanced Real’s position as the winningest club in Spanish ACB history, with 33 crowns, ahead of Barca’s 18 successes.

Both the Spanish giants have had patchy seasons, with Madrid yielding its 2015 Euroleague crown in disappointing fashion. Indeed, both Barcelona and Real Madrid struggled on the continent, and neither was anywhere near Final Four quality this year.

Domestically things have been better, especially for Real Madrid, with the club securing a double after picking up the Cope del Rey earlier in the campaign.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 91-84

Fighting to stay in the series, Barcelona exploded from the tip off and drained 26 points through the first quarter. Madrid struggled to keep pace with 19 points, so through ten minutes it was 19-26 to the visitors. Los Blancos matched Barca in the second frame with 26 points of their own, stopping the guests at 21 points. However, through halftime it was Barcelona with a 45-47 advantage.

The hosts reeled Barca in early in the third act and then struck with some stunning hoops, plundering 27 points and tightening in defense to halt the visitors at 18 points. Through thirty minutes Real Madrid had charge of the scoreboard with a 72-65 lead. Barcelona harried in the fourth quarter, but Madrid had the structure to hold firm and tie the frame to claim the title.

Sergio Llull topped the win with 21 points, while also laying on 5 assists. Sergio Rodriguez and Trey Thompkins offered 14 points apiece for Real, with Felipe Reyes picking up 11 points.

Tomas Satoransky and Ante Tomic paced the losing effort with 17 points each, with Tomic also adding 8 rebounds. Juan Carlos Navarro pulled the strings for Catalonia giant and scored 14 points and added 7 scoring passes.