Barcelona – Real Madrid

ACB League Finals Game 2
Barcelona, June 18, 18:30 CET

Pistol Pete

There is a minimal probability that Real Madrid could be able stop the attacking options of Barcelona, away from home in the second match of the final of the Spanish ACB league.
In Friday's 97:88 triumph, also at home, Barca scored as many as 34 points in the fourth quarter against Real Madrid. It was the absolute best offensive performance of the team of the famous Lithuanian coach and European basketball legend Sarunas Jasikevicius this spring. Apparently, the coaches of Barcelona finally realized that in the fast rhythm of the transition game, their team can "break" Real Madrid, much more effectively than relying on a positional attack against the superior zonal defense of the opponent.
It turned out that the exceptional Argentinian playmaker Laprovittola was the key figure of the host's triumph – with 19 points and very important five assists, in less than 26 minutes on the court. Also, power forward Nikola Mirotic showed that the conflict with the club's management and his certain departure from Barcelona this summer burden him excessively. In addition to 14 points, he grabbed extremely important seven rebounds.
Barcelona punished Real by insisting on the pick-and-pop game, the Turkish star Sanli scored four three-pointers from six attempts, and Mirotic two three-pointers from three shots. It is extremely important for the team to find a rhythm in shooting from distance as soon as possible in this match, and Barca can absolutely do that in front of their fans.
On the other hand, the famous Real Madrid guard Sergio Llull showed signs of returning to top form this time and scored 14 points. Celebrated center Tavares, the team's first star, scored 15 points – but, atypically for him, missed six of 11 shots.
Simply put, Barcelona seemed more agile, more energetic and more combative, ready for fierce duels - which is only natural, since Real Madrid players are emotionally and physically worn out after a difficult and dramatic struggle en route to the Euroleague title last month.
Of course, if they find a long-term shooting rhythm during the match, Real Madrid stars like Hezonja, Musa and the veteran Rodriguez can lead the game to an uncertain finish. However, they will be able to do that only with an exceptional performance in attack, because the impression is that they cannot restrain Barcelona to a lesser number of points.
At home, Barcelona previously beat Real Madrid 97:82, in a regular season match of the Spanish ACB League in April. Away from home, they defeated their biggest opponent on January 2 (87:78) in the domestic championship, and they were defeated in Madrid after overtime 91:86 in the Euroleague match.
The matches in Madrid will certainly bring a slightly slower pace of play - but, for this match in Barcelona, a large number of shots in the early phase of the attack are expected from both teams.
Barcelona holds the record with 16 ACB League titles, two more than Real Madrid. However, in the last ten seasons, the club from the capital of Spain was the champion six times - and the Catalan opponent only twice. Last season, Real Madrid won the title relatively easily. Everyone in the Barcelona team will have a great motive to get revenge this June, especially after the disappointment for the Catalans at the Euroleague Final Four tournament in May.

The Basketball Expert

Barcelona was impressive in all basketball segments on Friday. They had more rebounds (31-26), assists (22-11), steals (7-6), but also fewer turnovers (5-12) than Real Madrid. They looked determined to win and avenge their defeat in the Euroleague semifinals. However, for complete revenge, it is necessary to defeat the biggest rival two more times. In the previous days, there was a lot of talk about Nikola Mirotic. Barcelona best player will leave the club and he publicly said that he was disappointed that the club didn’t even want to talk to him about renewal. Despite that, he played very well in Game 1, and he received a big applause from fans in the "Blaugrana". Head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius is especially motivated because the title is the only way to keep the chance to remain in Barcelona next season.

In game number two, Real Madrid will have to primarily increase the intensity in defense. You can't win a title if you let your opponent to score nearly 100 points. Although Los Blancos should have the upper hand in the paint with Walter Tavares, that was not the case on Friday night. Real Madrid had an impressive three-point shooting percentages (63.2% 12/19), but it wasn't enough. Dzanan Musa took just four field goal attempts in Game 1 and that will have to change. Bosnian guard is someone who can push Real Madrid, but he needs to be more aggressive from the start. Guerschon Yabusele didn’t win battles in the paint that he usually wins, and it is interesting that Mario Hezonja didn't spend more than 18 minutes on the floor. These are all things that head coach Chus Mateo will fix between two games.

Since taking over at Barcelona, coach Jasikevicius has led the team in six best-of-five series. This is the seventh time. Each time, the Catalans had home court advantage. In five of the previous six series, score after first two games in "Blaugrana" was 1-1. They only took a 2-0 lead against Zalgiris this season in the Euroleague quarterfinals. For some reason, they fail to maintain the level of good form in two consecutive games in front of their fans. Something similar should happen now. Aside from a great three-point shooting percentage, Real Madrid underperformed in every important category in Game 1. Expect that to change. If it’s not enough for a triumph, the visitors should stay tied until the very end.