With a very thick veil removed from what happened in the final four in Kaunas, Barça once again looks like a reliable and convincing team in the Endesa League playoffs. Jasikevicius’ men did not fail against Unicaja and ordered a new classic in the final, the fourth in the last five seasons. This will give the Catalans their chance to get up after the tough European defeat against their greatest rival and smile shyly before going on vacation. It doesn’t seem like an easy task, but the improvement in the game is palpable, and this was confirmed in Malaga.
Jasikevicius is especially motivated by tough rivals like this Unicaja by Ibon Navarro, who they boast always has a plan. Arrange matches with patience as the flag, drawing plays and digging little by little until finding victory. And he has shown the Cup champion to be one of those teams, capable of even winning at the Palau in an entire league semifinal.
Barça started inspired by the outside shot but, far from those games in which three-pointers are the only way of dialogue, at Martín Carpena they were a resource encompassed in another great choral performance. Because if the Catalans seem to have learned anything after the debacle in Kaunas, it is that they have to close the cracks and go back to being the block that their coach likes so much. They all defend. Almost everyone scores. Everyone eats a piece of the cake.
Satoransky’s triples and again some great minutes of an outstanding Nnaji on the track gave Barça the first notable advantages. In fact, an additional shot from the Nigerian after a basket made it 10-20 (minute 8). By then, the back injury suffered by Perry in the early stages of the match had already been a scare but Unicaja did not have a fine wrist and seemed unable to hold his motivated rival.
But in a scenario that is too common this season in a Barca key, the start of the second quarter threatened to radically change the script of the duel. The traffic jam in Barça’s offensive phase was increasing and Carter’s appearance on the track closed the gap without haste but without pause. Those moments of certain anxiety also included a technical foul on Jasikevicius for protesting. And, in another classic, Sanli’s accumulation of fouls in less than a rooster crows.
In his 300th game in the ACB, Mirotic was not out of place in his good line of these playoffs and, seconded by the shots from Abrines, he hit the key and restored authority to a score that ranged between five and ten points ahead for the visitors with astonishing ease.
Perry’s electricity illuminated the first moments of the second half but Barça knew how to read the situation right away and pressed on defense, cementing a third quarter that defined the match (15-28). With many signatures the score was getting fatter until Paulí rose to 50-73, corroborating that Barça has recovered the name of “team”.
With the victory already in the Barça suitcase, the worst part of the last stretch of the game was an ugly fall by Vesely before which surprisingly the refereeing trio did not stop the game. Jasikevicius went crazy in the protests and ended up expelled with a second technique. They lost their ways even though the bottom was on his side. A small stain on a great night for his team.
