Real earns Game 5 with another road win in Belgrade

In a series whose unique circumstances won’t be forgotten for a very long time, Real Madrid downed host Partizan Mozzart Bet Begrade 78-85 on Thursday to force a Game 5 next week to settle the matter. Mario Hezonja put Real up 55-63 to start the fourth but Dante Exum, Mathias Lessort and Ioannis Papapetrou soon cut that to 62-65. Sergio Rodriguez, from downtown, helped Real maintain a 66-71 advantage. Zach LeDay emerged from a timeout with back-to-back baskets at 70-71, but Gabriel Deck and Rodriguez combined for 5 points that put Real up 72-76. LeDay was smooth as silk from the baseline, then his collision with Deck left the Real player limping to the locker room. Nigel Williams-Goss hit 4 free throws to make it 74-80 with under 2 minutes left. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Yam Madar stole and scored twice in just 3 seconds to make it 78-80 with 1:19 left. An amazing third-chance put-back-and-one by Tavares put Real up 78-83 inside the final minute and Dzanan Musa’s layup settled it. Tavares and Adam Hanga had 15 points each for Real while Zach LeDay led all scorers with 25 for Partizan.