Crvena Zvezda - Partizan

ABA League Finals Game 3
Belgrade, June 18, 20:30 CET

The Basketball Expert

Red Star entered the ABA League Finals in great momentum, but they were in a subordinate position in both games that were played in "Stark Arena". Partizan decided to close penetration of the opponent's guards. They forced Facundo Campazzo, Luca Vildoza and Nemanja Nedovic to take a large number of three-point shots and they profited on that idea. Red Star didn't get any contribution from its frontcourt. Ben Bentil and Hassan Martin are horrendously bad in pick'n'roll defense, and have no effect offensively. Filip Petrusev is also not a factor in defense, but at least he can hit something on the other side of the floor. Perhaps the most disappointing was Luka Mitrovic, who had an impressive playoff until the start of the final series. In the first two games, he missed a large number of easy shots.

Zeljko Obradovic is the best coach in the history of European basketball for a reason. He completely outsmarted Dusko Ivanovic in this series so far. In the first game, Partizan attacked Red Star mainly through Kevin Punter and Zach LeDay. When coach Ivanovic made adjustments for Game 2, they had a boomerang effect. Partizan prepared a completely different tactic for Game 2 and in the first half, Alen Smailagic destroyed Hassan Martin in various ways. Shots were taken (and hit) by James Nunnally this time, with a huge contribution from Mathias Lessort in the third quarter. Partizan's offense is very diverse. They had the highest offensive rating (121.9) in the Euroleague.

Every player on the roster can score more than 15 points and you never know for whom coach Obradovic will prepare sets. Even Ioannis Papapetrou, who has been completely out of rhythm in the last couple of months, had a good role in Game 2.

Partizan has made a better impression so far in the ABA league Finals, but home court is a huge advantage here. Now Red Star will have a large number of loud fans behind them and will not choose a way to make it difficult for the opposing players. Home teams have 20 consecutive wins in the ABA League Finals. The last  visitor who won the match was Buducnost back in 2018. Clearly,  the previous three finals ended with 3-2 score (five wins of the home team). This is something that many predicted would happen this time as well. In any case, Red Star is not that much weaker than Partizan to be swept away. They will surely react, and when you have a Campazzo-Vildoza-Nedovic backcourt, you can beat absolutely all opponents in Europe at home. They showed this best in the last part of the Euroleague with wins against Fenerbahce and Olympiacos.

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.