Real Madrid - Barcelona

Spanish ACB League Finals Game 3
Madrid, June 20, 21:00 CET

Pistol Pete

Barcelona has already shown that they reached their best form this season precisely for the very end - and the final of the Spanish ACB League, against the biggest rival Real Madrid.
The 2:0 lead in the final series for the Catalan team is fully deserved. The team of the legend of European basketball, coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, defended the home court (97:88 victory on June 16 and 86:85 two days later). Now, away from home, they will play much more relaxed against the Euroleague champions. Real Madrid must win now - only one triumph separates Barcelona from the title.
In their arena, Real Madrid certainly remains the favorite in the fight for triumph. However, the chances of Real achieving a convincing victory are minimal. The almost certain scenario is that we will have an exciting fight until the last attacks, as was the case in their previous match, two days ago.
This is evidenced by their previous duels in Madrid. The last time they played on Real's court was on January 26 in a Euroleague game. The home team won 91:86 - and in overtime. Before that, these biggest Spanish rivals played a match on January 2nd in the Regular season of ACB League... Barcelona managed to win away 87:78. So this team has the experience not only of victories, but also of overall excellent games at the most difficult away court for them in Spain.
The previous games of the final brought a large number of points from both sides. However, experience shows that Real Madrid players generally opt for a slower pace of matches when they play at home against Barcelona. A tactically and physically more demanding match is expected, with a slightly lower number of points. However, a new spectacle of attacking basketball can hardly be expected before the eventual fifth match of the finals in Barcelona - if there will be one at all.
The previous two games showed that Barcelona is counting on all the key attacking options and that they are all in shape at the moment. The most important thing is that the famous power forward Nikola Mirotic plays at a high level. In the second match of the finals, he led the team with 25 points with five rebounds and three assists, and shot 14-7 from the field. Mirotic is playing in the last matches in the Barcelona shirt this June, he is certain to leave the club, and in the past few days he entered into a public discussion with people from the club's management... However, all this did not leave any mark on his form and self-confidence.
Also, center Jan Vesely is clearly in good shape, he scored 18 points in the previous game. It is clear how much the Czech star in good form was missing for Barcelona at the Euroleague final-four tournament in May... That performance, with Vesely still not fully recovered from injury, was a big disappointment for the Catalan club, and in the ACB League final they have a chance to heal their wounds.
This season is certainly extremely successful for Real Madrid, who exceeded expectations by winning the Euroleague. On the other hand, Barcelona is chasing the 20th Spanish championship title and even the 17th since the ACB League was formed in 1983. That would be a great confirmation of the quality of the work of coach Jasikevicius, who will certainly continue to lead the team in the next season as well.

The Basketball Expert

Real Madrid suffered a painful defeat on Sunday against Barcelona. They led 74:80 with two minutes left in the game, but Nikola Mirotic first hit a three-pointer, and then they stole the ball from which Nicolas Laprovittola scored in transition. In the end, Barcelona won by 86:85 and now they are one triumph away from winning the title. The defeat is also painful for Real Madrid because they played a really good game. Mario Hezonja hit shots from difficult positions, Sergio Llull was almost infallible, and Walter Tavares had a distinctive effect. If there is room for improvement anywhere, it is with Dzanan Musa. He played first two games of the Endesa League Finals below every criterion. Much more is expected from someone who was a member of the All-Euroleague First Team this season.

This Endesa League Finals looks like a farewell tour for Barcelona. At least that's the case for Nikola Mirotic who is leaving the club and who had an emotional connection with fans in both previous games in "Blaugrana".

All this motivated him to say goodbye as a champion and he is the most deserving for his club's 2-0 lead after 25 points scored in Game 2. Jan Vesely tormented Real Madrid defense from the short roll, while Nikola Kalinic, Nicolas Laprovittola and Sertac Sanli hit threes when it was most needed. Barcelona board management stated that their budget will be much smaller next year. After all, that's the reason why Mirotic is leaving because they don't have enough money to keep him. When Sarunas Jasikevicius was appointed as head coach three years ago, the main goal was to win the Euroleague during his tenure. He didn't do that and it could easily happen that even the title in the Endesa League won't be enough to keep his job. If that's the case, a good way to go is as the champion of Spain.

Barcelona is a big favorite to win the title at this point. It’s not realistic that they lose three consecutive games against Real Madrid, although Los Blancos know how to make a comeback after 0-2. They have too much pride to allow their biggest opponent to sweep them by 3-0 in this series. On paper, Real Madrid has more depth than Barcelona. In the Euroleague, they were perfect in the elimination games this season. They won all five of them (three times against Partizan and once each against Barcelona and Olympiacos). In front of the home fans, they will surely have even greater motivation and desire, and it is not at all realistic that this will be the last game in this final series. It's time for Real Madrid to strike back.