Once again, Flamengo showed why they are the reigning two-time Brazilian basketball champions. Having not played a full game since the first round of the Novo Basquete Brasil tournament, the team's focus has been on overcoming obstacles, and this Friday was no exception. This time, the absences included forward Dedé, who continues recovering from a right hand injury; power forward Jefferson, who has a grade-one strain in the back of his left thigh; and coach Paulo Chupeta, who remained in Rio de Janeiro with an intestinal infection. Despite the absences, the team from Gávea excelled once again, defeating Pinheiros 83-79 on the road, earning their eighth consecutive victory—and ninth in ten matches—and equaling the league's four losses with leaders Brasília.

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With 34 points and one game less than the team from the Federal District and Franca, who appear ahead of Flamengo in the classification in the points criterion, with 36 and 35, respectively, the red-black team now only depends on its own strength to finish the qualifying phase in first place.

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One of the main players in Friday's narrow victory, center Wagner dedicated the positive result to coach Paulo Chupeta and made a point of praising the group's posture and attitude.

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"We knew it would be a tough game and that we would win on defense. Our first half wasn't good, but we talked about our defensive positioning at halftime and managed to improve our defense on Shamell and Olivinha. Once again, this team showed that it has a unique group and that it excels in the most difficult moments. Today (Friday) we didn't have Chupeta, but João did an excellent job and we got an important victory," said Wagner, who scored 17 points and seven rebounds.

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Another key player in the important victory against Pinheiros, Duda echoed the words of the Flamengo pivot and highlighted the strength of the Flamengo team at the decisive moment.

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"This game perfectly reflects our situation in the championship. So far, we haven't been able to play a single game with a full team, and yet we've excelled in every round. The victory over a strong opponent like Pinheiros showed how much this team grows in decisive moments. We're growing in the competition; it's up to us to finish first and we're going after the third title," said the winger, with 16 points and five assists.

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One of the happiest with the result, assistant coach João Batista emphasized the unity of the red-and-black squad. Aware that the team didn't perform well in the first half, Paulo Chupeta's replacement corrected the mistakes at halftime and thanked his players for their double effort after his first victory as coach of the red-and-black team.

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"That's what sets our team apart. When one player isn't having a good night, another excels, and the team excels as a whole. They realized at halftime that we weren't being as aggressive in our marking as we'd agreed during the pre-match talk and changed their approach in the second half. By marking Olivinha and Shammel tightly, we reduced their offensive volume, and our attack began to work better. In the end, they excelled once again and secured an important victory to keep us in the fight for first place in the qualifying round," explained João Batista.