Semi-finals tied. To sweat blood in Málaga. Barça lost against a superior Unicaja and will now have to win one of the games in Malaga if they do not want to be eliminated from the League final. Last night the Blaugrana team, slowed down once again by Mirotic’s bad game (6 points), showed its bad side, the irregular and tense one, against a more consistent opponent. It was their first defeat of the season at home in La Liga.
The start of the Barça game can only be described as unfortunate. The Blaugrana team did everything the other way around in the first few minutes. Neither in attack nor in defense. Not even in shooting. Not even on the rebound. Not at all. All the words of Jasikevicius about the need to enter the game with maximum concentration were wet paper. If his players heard them, they went in one ear and out the other. A real disaster. As a result, a resounding 1-14 for Unicaja. Barça were a complete mess and missed their first eight kicks. They were attempts at babalà , with plays usually based on individualism.
Meanwhile, Unicaja, well led by Perry, was grappling with differences. Jasikevicius turned to Jokubaitis as a repulsor and it worked for him. The point guard scored the first Blaugrana basket after six minutes and gave the team another rhythm, more energetic and fresh. He was seconded by the normally cool Sanli, and Barcelona minimized damage (18-25 at the end of the first quarter). It wasn’t a miracle, but at least the audience at the Palau saw how their team stopped the bleeding.
If Jokubaitis had been the director of the reaction, then another secondary like Kalinic, better in attack than usual, would take the witness. It is clear that on the other side Carter was a fiblio in the attack of Unicaja. Barça had already climbed on the back of the Málaga team, but could not get in front, nor would they do so until the break (37-40).
Jasikevicius’ team was waiting for the appearance of a dull Mirotic (only two points until the break), who finds it difficult to carburate when the first shots do not go in, as if carrying on the slab of his lousy performance in the final four.
Barça needed some first sword to enter the game and Laprovittola appeared. A triple from the Argentine finally put the Barcelona players in front (in the 24th minute) in a moment of exaltation. Barça was able to spin a partial 14-2, with eight points from the South American (52-47). But it had been so difficult for the Saras team to climb the mountain that, once at the top, they forgot about the oxygen and Unicaja responded with another run, now 2-15 (57-63 at the end of the third quarter).
Carter and Perry were connected and the score did not look good for Barça, who had resorted to the Palau factor to try to hunt for victory. But the Blaugrana team had plummeted again and Unicaja was undermining it through transitions. 1-1 and in Malaga.
