It’s a familiar tale as Barcelona take on Real Madrid in the Liga Endesa Finals after they put Valencia and Unicaja Malaga to the sword respectively in the last four.
Game 1 is on Thursday.
Real Madrid 3-1 Unicaja Malaga
Real Madrid are through to the Liga Endesa Finals as many people expected after a 3-1 series win over a Unicaja Malaga side who in the end ran out of steam.
The Euroleague finalists escaped with a 98-93 overtime win in Game 1 as both teams could not be separated in regulation with the game ending 83-83 as a desperation baseline jumper from Sergio Rodriguez that could have won the game ended up short.
A game-changing block from Marcus Slaughter and a Unicaja backcourt violation with 6.8 seconds left sealed the game as Sergio Llull led the way with 18 points for the winners.
Game 2 was just as physical and closely fought as its opener, but in the end, Real Madrid came out on top 89-87 thanks to a dagger three-pointer from Rudy Fernandez with 39 seconds left to give the hosts an 87-83 advantage. They had to withstand one final onslaught from Malaga though but Jayson Granger’s half-court attempt fell just short. Fernandez had 18 to lead Real Madrid.
Malaga pulled one game back in Game 3, winning 88-75. Unicaja led by five at half-time and pulled away in the third quarter to take a 75-55 lead heading into the final period, leaving Madrid with too much work to do.
Real Madrid hit back to seal the series in four but needed overtime to beat Malaga 89-79.
Fernandez missed a contested three-pointer to win it for Madrid in regulation but led by Sergio Llull, they raced away in the extra five minutes to book their place in the Finals.
Valencia 2-3 Barcelona
Barcelona sealed a memorable 3-2 semi-final win over Valencia as no team was able to defend home court with the road side winning all five games.
Number two seed Valencia saw home court advantage totally disappear as Barcelona have come away with two road wins.
The Catalan side held Valencia to just 9 points in the third quarter and used it as a platform to a comfortable 77-58 win as the Eurocup winners were stunned.
Ante Tomic and Bostjan Nachbar each had 15 points to lead Barca.
A hook shot off an offensive rebound from Tomic with 2.1 seconds left handed Barcelona a 90-89 win in Game 2, leaving Valencia heartbroken and with an uphill battle to save the semi-final series.
Oliver Lafayette had a chance to win it but his three was long and Barca ended up with two road wins to lead 2-0.
Barcelona blew a 16-point lead in Game 3 to lose 74-70 at home as Valencia pulled a game back. They then leveled the series at 2-2 with a convincing 81-63 win to set up a thrilling finale in Valencia.
Thanks to an incredible circus shot from Marcelinho Huertas, Barcelona escaped with a 77-75 win in the decider and will now face Real Madrid in the Finals.
Huertas finished Game 5 with 22 points and 9 assists in a spectacular game-winning performance.
