The family celebration was held at HSBC Arena on Friday night. Marcelinho and Duda Machado were the standout performers in Flamengo's 100-87 victory over rival Joinville. With 34 points from the older brother and 25 from the younger, the team from Gávea won another game in the 2009-2010 New Basketball Brazil season. And the triumph had a special flavor, as the rivalry with the Santa Catarina team has been growing in recent matches.

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The result was also important for Flamengo to distance itself from Alberto Bial's team in the battle for the top spots in the standings. Having lost away from home, Flamengo needed to win by a large margin to gain the advantage in points scored versus conceded. And that's what happened. With a strong defense from the second quarter onwards and attacking with great speed, Paulo Chupeta's team set its pace and gave its opponent no chance.

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But the first quarter didn't go as expected. "We ended up defending below our training level, and that made things a bit difficult for us. We worked hard on the defense and ended up not being able to repeat that in the game," explained Duda.

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Joinville thus managed to close the first period with a 28-23 lead. However, Flamengo's grit showed in the second quarter. The red-and-black team fought back and went into the locker room leading 52-48.

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After the break, which included a beautiful tribute to former player and coach Cocada, who passed away last week, the red-and-blacks played their best basketball and extended their lead. "We talked in the locker room about making a change. The defense clicked, and the offense worked. In fact, the defensive balance is what made the offense work. Furthermore, the spectacular performance of Duda and Marcelinho ended up securing the result for us," analyzed coach Paulo Chupeta.

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And that's exactly what happened. Duda and Marcelinho took charge and led Flamengo in the final minutes of the game. With strong individual performances from the brothers, who combined for 59 points, the Red-Blacks had no trouble closing at 100-87 and thus securing second place in the Novo Basquete Brasil standings. And the final play brought the fans to their feet and singing the club anthem: Teichmann delivered a beautiful dunk, and as the Santa Catarina team came out, Marcelinho was quicker, managed to steal the ball, and hit a beautiful three-pointer, capping off a great performance.