Game 3 is often the difference maker in winning the series and losing it, and it could prove to be the case in this year’s semifinals when both Real and Unicaja managed to win in overtime in game 3.
Real needed to regain home court advantage in Valencia and they needed a game winning triple from Sergio Llull with 1.8 left to win 100-103. Valencia almost won the game in regular time when Luke Harangody nailed a tough three, but after the instant replay it was just after the shot clock expired and we went to overtime.
Real had the last possession of the over time after Guillem Vives nailed a big three to tie the game at a 100. Llull took the ball in his hands and nailed a huge contested three to win the game for the visitors. With Valencia having no time outs it was tough for them to go the length of the court with only 1.8 left.
Luke Harangody had 21 for Valencia. Felipe Reyes had the same for Real. Madrid has 2-1 lead in the series now with pivotal game 4 on Thursday.
After getting blown out in the first two games Unicaja showed some real fight in game 3 as they secured a tough 89- 84 overtime win over Barcelona to stay alive in this series. Both Justin Doellman and Brad Oleson had a chance to take Catalans to the final at the buzzer, but both of Doellman’s three and Oleson’s tip in just fell short. Game was ugly throughout for Barcelona as they only shot 33% from three.
In overtime Unicaja just executed better. They moved the ball, made open shots and made their free throws. On the other hand, Barcelona played a sloppy overtime with some silly fouls while in the bonus and turnovers. Maciej Lampe played awful as he made two silly fouls to send Unicaja to the free throw line, missed an easy lay up and after Fran Vasquez missed 2 free throws in the last minute the ball just slipped through his hands and went out of bounds.
DeShaun Thomas had 17 for Barcelona. Carlos Suarez led Unicaja with 13. Barcelona still holds a 2-1 lead after this game with game 4 coming up on Friday.
