green and black party utter ecstasy. The almost 7,000 throats that deafened the Badalona Olympics guided Joventut to the semifinals of the Endesa League for the second year in a row thanks to a solid win against Baskonia (83-76). As if it were a déjà -vu, with the same sensation of a recurring nightmare, the Basques dismissed the season with the same disappointed face that they showed in February when they were knocked out of the Cup by the green-and-blacks on the Badalonian parquet. As was the case with the first victory in Vitoria, Guy (22 points), who was cheered on by the crowd shouting “MVP!”, was once again the beacon for a Penya who led the match against an unanswered rival .
The green and black only had the loss due to injury to the prodigal son Pau Ribas, whose renewal until 2026 was announced before the initial jump. It was only the first good news of the night in Badalona. The initial minutes were an exchange of baskets that already smiled at Carles Duran’s men (16-11). Guy and Brodzianski started the carousel of hits from the perimeter, only counteracted by Giedraitis and Howard, the only ones with lucidity in attack from a team from Vitoria too devoted to the inspiration of their pitchers. Added to Baskonia’s lack of offensive direction were some defensive gaps that Feliz detected coming off the bench. La Penya, with more order and clearer ideas, took advantage of the confusion of Peñarroya’s men to go ahead at halftime (46-40), sealed in the last play with an unsportsmanlike play by DÃez against Vives.
The Basque team seemed to correct the course at the beginning of the third quarter, for a moment ahead in the electronic (46-47), but it was only the prelude to the green-and-black takeoff. Guy, supported by Tomic’s appearance in the paint, corrected Joventut’s course until reaching the maximum advantage at the start of the final match (77-62). With Howard on the bench with four fouls (he was eventually eliminated), Baskonia showed their offensive impotence and only the tension of the moment, with more mistakes from the locals, allowed them to reduce an advantage that never jeopardized the triumph of a Joventut that is already waiting in the semifinals against Real Madrid or Gran Canaria.
