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Spanish League semifinals, Game 3: June 7-8, 2007 |
A pair of heroic performances have left both Winterthur FC Barcelona and DKV Joventut at the doorestep of the Spanish League finals after Game 3 victories in the semis have them leading their best-of-five series 2-1. Both play at home in Game 4 on the weekend, too. Juan Carlos Navarro ended a thriller against Tau Ceramica with his trademark one-hand running shot - la bomba - with just 1 second left to assure an 80-78 home win for Barcelona on Friday. Earlier in the final minute, Navarro had put Barcelona ahead with a triple, too. He finished with 22 points, while Luis Scola had 27 for Tau. The previous night, in nearby Badalona, Joventut rocked the house with a 85-71 victory over ULEB Cup champion Real Madrid as Rudy Fernandez pumped in 16 points and dished 7 assists, but left the game injured near the finish. Fernandez helped turn a close game around quickly with a triple and an alley-oop tip-in in the fourth quarter, but fell to the floor hard on that play, getting bumped by Felipe Reyes, who led Madrid with 15 points. Although it might have to play without Fernandez, Joventut can clinch its first trip to the finals in more than a decade when it hosts Madrid again on Saturday. Barcelona can advance with a victory against Tau at home on Sunday.
Joventut and Madrid kept up their tug-of-war on the scoreboard in Game 3 of their series, before 11,858 people in Badalona, Spain. The first quarter ended tied 21-21, then Madrid went up 38-40 at the half and Joventut took back a 59-58 lead after three quarters that seemed much like a prize fight for all the counterpunching between the two teams. That, however, is when Joventut turned the series on its head by going on a 10-0 run to start the final quarter, including back-to-back triples by Fernandez and Lubos Barton. Joventut's defensive aggressiveness created more opportunities, and before long, it was 71-61 on that alley-oop tip-in that was the last play of the game for Fernandez. It didn't matter by then: Joventut kept stealing and running until it had a high lead of 80-63 and was on its way to a crowd-pleasing victory, just one step short of the finals. Barton followed Fernandez in the scoring column with 13 points and Robert Archibald had 11. Elmer Bennett added 10 points, 5 asssists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals for Joventut. Besides Reyes, only Axel Hervell, with 10 points and 8 rebounds, stood out for Madrid.
In Barcelona on Friday, Scola scored Tau's first 6 points to get the visitors going, and soon got help as Fred House buried back-to-back triples. Tau led 19-20 after a quarter, but the lead went back and forth consistently from there. A pair of Scola baskets left Tau up 41-43 at halftime, and the guests still led 60-62 after three quarters. Consecutive triples by Navarro and Jaka Lakovic swung the scoreboard in Barcelona's favor, 71-65, early in the fourth quarter, but Scola reappeared with 7 points to put Tau back in front, 75-76, entering the final minute. Those 60 seconds belonged to Navarro. His triple put Barca back in front, and after Pablo Prigioni tied on a put-back, Navarro had the final say with his bomba to decide the outcome. To Navarro's 22 points, Fran Vazquez added 12 points, Gianluca Basile 11, Denis Marconato and Roko-Leni Ukic 10 each for Barcelona. Scola had three teammates - Prigioni, Tiago Splitter and Serkan Erdogan - with 10 points each.
SPANISH LEAGUE: Semifinal Playoffs,
best of 5 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | 1 | Tau Ceramica (1) | 81 | 76 | 78 | June 10 | June 12* | 2 | Winterthur FCB (4) | 73 | 83 | 80 | - | - | 1 | Real Madrid (2) | 72 | 69 | 71 | June 9 | June 12* | 2 | DKV Joventut (3) | 70 | 76 | 85 | - | - |
Semifinal Playoffs Games | | Game 1 | Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB | 81-73 | June 1 | | Game 1 | Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut | 72-70 | May 31 | | Game 2 | Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB | 76-83 | June 3 | | Game 2 | Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut | 69-76 | June 3 | | Game 3 | Winterthur FCB vs. Tau Ceramica | 80-78 | June 8 | | Game 3 | DKV Joventut vs. Real Madrid | 85-71 | June 7 | | Game 4 | Winterthur FCB vs. Tau Ceramica | - | June 10 | | Game 4 | DKV Joventut vs. Real Madrid | - | June 9 | | Game 5 | Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB | - | June 12* | | Game 5 | Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut | - | June 12* |
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Saturday, June 09, 2007
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Euroleague.net |
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