Split - MZT

International - ABA League, Roind 25

In the last match in front of their fans in the regular season of the ABA league, Split will play as a clear favorite, against MZT, a team from North Macedonia.

For the Croatian team, which is currently in eighth place in the regional competition, the triumph would bring them closer, but not guarantee a place in the playoffs. Split will still play with a clear necessity to win, since in the last round they are visiting the current champion and Euroleague club Red Star, and in that match Split will be a complete outsider.

For the MZT team, on the other hand, players are aware that almost all chances to fight for survival have failed. Only in case of both triumphs in the last two rounds, with a favorable outcome of the matches of other teams, there are chances to preserve the status in the regional elite. However, this is only in the realm of theory. So the home team even acts with a stronger competitive motive than MZT, in the first match of the penultimate round of the ABA league.

Split is not the favorite only because of its position in the table and because of the fact that they are the host and playing in an excellent atmosphere with the support of numerous local fans, which is increasingly the case in their hall in last weeks. More important than all that, is the fact that the Croatian team continuously plays well and efficiently, above all in their arena. In the last eight matches in the ABA league, the team of coach Srđan Subotić achieved five victories and thus unexpectedly positioned themselves as a candidate for the playoffs.

Especially in his Split hall they play well and efficiently. Since the beginning of the year in the ABA league, this team has achieved four wins and three losses. Out of that, they lost twice to absolute favorites, teams playing in the Euroleague (Crvena zvezda and Partizan). Against Partizan, one of the best teams in Europe at the moment, on March 4 they lost in a dramatic ending 96:95, with a basket in the last second.

Since the beginning of January, Split, as a host in the ABA League, has scored less than 87 points only once, against Crvena Zvezda in the first match of the year. At that time, the rival was in top form defensively.

On the other hand, MZT in the ABA league has received at least 93 points in every match since the beginning of the year. All of this points to the conclusion that an excellent attacking edition of the hosts can be expected.

Dominik Mavra is an absolutely key figure for the game Split, this guard, in addition to 16.6 points and 3.8 rebounds, has even 7.3 assists on average. The home team has four players with at least 13 points per match in the ABA league, and there are enough quality options even if shooting guard Shannon Shorter, the team's top scorer (17.7 points and a great 6.5 rebounds per match), is not in an attacking mood.

Since the start of the season, Split has recorded an excellent 84.3 points per match, and that average is significantly improved in the last ten rounds. The home team will be ready to give the fans another excellent attacking performance, against a rival that is objectively bad, soft and sketchy defensively.