By Can Erozden
ANKARA (AA) - Real Madrid secured the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title in one of the most exciting and toughest championships for the Spanish basketball powerhouse.
The Whites lifted the EuroLeague trophy in Kaunas, Lithuania after beating Greek team Olympiacos in a dramatic last-gasp 79-78 win.
The Madrid club were behind for most of the game, but their longtime guard Sergio Llull scored a game-winning jumper with only 3.1 seconds remaining, enabling them to win a record-extending 11th Turkish Airlines EuroLeague title.
Real Madrid's job was not easy before the thrilling final against Olympiacos as they faced challenges in the EuroLeague playoffs.
They were not the leaders when the 34-game regular season ended on April 14.
The team came in third with a 23-11 win/loss record but claimed a berth in the playoffs in late March.
One of the leading basketball clubs in Europe, Olympiacos won the 2022-23 regular season after winning 24 games. The Greek club lost 10 games.
Real Madrid were among the top eight EuroLeague clubs to proceed to the playoff stage, where they faced Serbia's Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.
Partizan were sixth in the standings after winning 20 games out of 34.
- Real Madrid on verge of elimination but survive in playoffs
In the playoffs, Real Madrid risked their chances as Partizan won the first two games at the WiZink Center in Madrid.
One more win would allow Partizan to reach the Final Four, because this phase was played in the best-of-five series.
Real Madrid were 2-0 down in the series in late April.
But the Spanish giants made an epic comeback to eliminate their Serbian opponents, winning the remaining games 82-80 and 85-78 at Belgrade's Stark Arena and 98-94 at their home court.
The 3-2 win over Partizan encouraged Real Madrid and made them more focused on their goal in the EuroLeague.
In the Final Four, Real Madrid won against bitter rivals Barcelona 78-66 at Kaunas' Zalgirio Arena to reach the championship game against Olympiacos on May 21.
The Whites last beat Olympiacos, who were the 1997, 2012 and 2013 champions, winning the EuroLeague title for the 11th time in the team’s history.
Before their success in 2023, Real Madrid won it in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1995, 2015, and 2018.
CSKA Moscow won the European top-tier club trophy in basketball eight times to be after Real Madrid.
But Russian clubs have been banned from the competition since 2022 due to Russia's war on Ukraine.
- Bosnian forward Musa leads Real Madrid in points
In all of the phases of the 2022-23 EuroLeague season, Bosnian forward Dzanan Musa led Real Madrid in points.
Musa, 24, averaged 14.8 points in 41 EuroLeague games.
Real Madrid's Argentine forward Gabriel Deck averaged 12.3 points in 31 games to be second in this category.
Walter Tavares, another Real Madrid player, played with 11.2 points per game this season.
Tavares played in 40 games, missing only one in the playoffs.
Sergio Llull, a Real Madrid guard, was in the lower ranks, averaging 6.1 points, but he was better than Real duo Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez.
Cape Verdean center Tavares led Real Madrid in rebounds with 6.9 per game, and Rodriguez tallied 4.4 assists per game to lead Real Madrid in this field.