Manresa - Gran Canaria

Spain - Liga ACB, Round 34

Completely relieved, in a match with no competitive significance for them, Manresa will welcome the Eurocup champions Gran Canaria for the farewell of the season, in the Round 34 of Spanish ACB leag.
The team of the well-known Spanish coach Pedro Martinez has already secured survival, with two consecutive victories in dramatic matches. Previously, the Euroleague team Valencia was defeated 87:82, and in the key last match, Breogan was also defeated 82:81. Guillem Jou, the captain of the Catalan club, has already announced the match against Gran Canaria as a "reward for home fans". This means that they will be playing to win in a relaxed atmosphere, with a lot of quick actions and shots in the early phase of the attack.
Gran Canaria paid the price of fatigue in the previous two weeks, after a great and triumphant fight for the Eurocup trophy. With two defeats in the last three games, this team has no chance for fifth place in the standings. In the playoffs, the rival will be the powerful Baskonia or the new continental champion Real Madrid, so it can hardly be said that the team from the Canary Islands has any calculation for a desirable rival in the quarter-final series.
Gran Canaria has received at least 95 points in each of the last three games, and now we can expect an efficient duel on both sides. The coach of the visitors, the once famous Slovenian defender Jaka Lakovic, will also give a chance to players who had less playing time in the previous weeks and months.
The basketball players of the home team will have a great motive to find a perfect way to say goodbye in front of their fans and before a long vacation, with a good attacking performance and victory, especially against the team that won the European trophy this season. What is indicative is the good attacking form of the Manresa team since the end of March. In the 13 matches played in the last two months, only twice did Manresa not score at least 80 points, and ten times did they score at least 84 points.
On the other hand, during the spring, Gran Canaria had some impressive attacking shows against teams that play similar attacking basketball as Manresa - for example, in the Eurocup in the middle of the match, Paris was defeated as much as 104:74, and Fuenblabrada less than two weeks ago away from home - 97:81.
Overall, both teams expect the match in a relaxed atmosphere of attacking rallies, which is a potential treat for basketball neutrals as well as local fans. Gran Canaria will certainly not insist on an excessively strong defense - the energy needs to be saved for tough playoff clashes.