Decisive as always, Marcelinho Machado entered the court at Arena Carioca 1 to ignite the duel and make Flamengo win another victory in NBB10. Thanks to the captain's excellent performance in the last period, Mais Querido emerged victorious by 87 to 85 against Basquete Cearense on the morning of this Sunday (25).

"It's the championship final, everyone is still looking for the best position, we're fighting for the lead. We knew it would be a tough game, since they were coming off two positive results at home against Franca and Bauru. We didn't play a good game and we need to acknowledge that, but the spirit and the fight were worth it. I think in the last quarter we got things right more and had the composure to close it out, even though we made mistakes on the defensive side," said Marcelinho.

"Playing against a team that changes their style of play so much means we have to adjust a lot during the match. That's why we encountered so many difficulties. We had some unnecessary excitement at the end, but I believe that, for a good part of the final period, we knew how to dictate the pace and control the game. They also deserve a lot of credit," he concluded.

Flamengo's next challenge will be on Tuesday (27), at 19:30 pm, at Arena Carioca 1, against Vitória. "From now on, all games have a playoff rhythm, all are very decisive. We will either finish first or second, we already know that. We need to go onto the court with attention to try to dictate the pace of the game in the forty minutes so that we have more peace of mind to win," he said.