Spanish League Playoffs, Quarterfinals, Game 1: May 15-16, 2008
|
Unicaja took a 0-1 lead in its best-of-three quarterfinal series by downing Real Madrid 73-89 at Palacio Vistalegre in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Unicaja now has the chance to become the first eighth-seeded team to advance to the semifinals, as it hosts Game 2 in Malaga on Saturday, while Madrid is in a do-or-die situation. Carlos Cabezas led the winners with 16 points. TAU Ceramica took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three quarterfinal series topping Pamesa Valencia 87-79 on Friday night at Fernando Buesa Arena. Sunday afternoon Pamesa will have the chance to tie the series and travel to Vitoria for game-3. Pete Mickeal led the way for Tau Ceramica scoring 23 points, Igor Rakocevic had 22 while Pablo Prigioni and Tiago Splitter nailed 11 apiece. DKV Joventut Badalona took the head of their quarterfinal series beating Akasvayu Girona 85-72 at Palacio Municipal de Deportes on Friday night. Rudy Fernandez contributed with 22 points, Jan Jagla had 11 and Ferran Lavina posted 10 for the hosts. Jaka Lakovic led AXA FC Barcelona with 20 points on Friday night to get a 75-64 win over Iurbentia Bilbao, in their quarterfinal series game-1. Roger Grimau added 12 points and Mario Kasun 11 with 8 boards.
TAU Ceramica took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three quarterfinal series topping Pamesa Valencia 87-79 on Friday night at Fernando Buesa Arena. Sunday afternoon Pamesa will have the chance to tie the series and travel to Vitoria for game-3. Pete Mickeal led the way for Tau Ceramica scoring 23 points, Igor Rakocevic had 22 while Pablo Prigioni and Tiago Splitter nailed 11 apiece. Stanko Barac was the main contributor for Valencia with 13 points, Albert Miralles and Fred House bagged 11 apiece, and Ruben Douglas drilled 10. Simas Jasaitis gave a 16-8 cushion to TAU late in the first quarter, while a three-pointer converted by Rakovecic extended the difference to the double figure, 25-15 after ten minutes. Ruben Garces cut the margin to 25-21 early in the second quarter, while Miralles tied for the first time the score on 30-30 before the first half finished on 39-37. The scoring was 48-48 at the midway point of the third quarter, then James Singleton and Mickael pushed their side to a consistent 59-50 lead after thirty minutes. A 10-0 run for TAU, capped by Wille McDonald opened the final quarter giving the hosts a big 69-50 margin, Pamesa tried to come back and was closer on 84-79 with 44 seconds left but Prigioni scored his two free throws to get the win.
The ULEB Cup champions of DKV Joventut Badalona took the head of their quarterfinal series beating Akasvayu Girona 85-72 at Palacio Municipal de Deportes on Friday night. Rudy Fernandez contributed with 22 points, Jan Jagla had 11 and Ferran Lavina posted 10 for the hosts, while the regular season MVP, Marc Gasol, led the guests with 15, Ivan Radenovic had 14 and Erik Daniels 11. A three pointer from Lubos Barton and a short jumper from Gasol fixed a 23-18 margin for Joventut after ten minutes, Fernandez gave from downtown the first double digit cushion, 31-21 to DKV, early in the second quarter, and still Gasol assisted by Victor Sada fixed the 45-38 for the hosts at halftime. Back from the lockers Badalona made a 26-9 run to close the contest, giving to Akasvayu the opportunity to come back closer just in the final minutes of the match.
Jaka Lakovic led AXA FC Barcelona with 20 points on Friday night to get a 75-64 win over Iurbentia Bilbao, in their quarterfinal series game-1. Roger Grimau added 12 points and Mario Kasun 11 with 8 boards. Marko Banic had 13 points for Bilbao, Marcelinho Huertas 12 and Predrag Savovic 11. Kasun gave a 12-7 advantage to Barcelona, before Luke Recker tied from beyond the arc and Banic put for the first time the guest ahead 12-14. Huertas gave a 20-25 margin to Bilbao early in the second quarter, then Lakovic from the three points land gave a 30-28 advantage to his side, but it was still Bilbao to lead 32-33 at halftime. The two teams exchanged leads for all the third quarter, Fran Vazquez dunked the ball for the 49-45 and AXA FC Barcelona was leading 51-47 entering in the last ten minutes of the game. Basile and Acker pushed Barcelona, but Huertas kept Bilbao in charge on 55-52 before Lakovic exploded with 5 consecutive points to reach a 64-54 margin. Barcelona extended the cushion to 73-57 managing the game to get a deserved win.
Unicaja took a 0-1 lead in its best-of-three quarterfinal series by downing Real Madrid 73-89 at Palacio Vistalegre in the Spanish capital on Thursday. Unicaja now has the chance to become the first eighth-seeded team to advance to the semifinals, as it hosts Game 2 in Malaga on Saturday, while Madrid is in a do-or-die situation. Carlos Cabezas led the winners with 16 points. Boniface Ndong added 14 whle Bojan Popovic had 12 - a Spanish League career-high - for Unicaja. Axel Hervelle had 20 points for Madrid, Felipe Reyes 15 and Raul Lopez 11. Madrid rolled in the opening minutes, as Alex Mumbru and Hervelle fueled a 10-0 run that gave Madrid a double-digit lead, 14-4. Daniel Santiago and Cabezas stepped up for Unicaja while a fast break layup by Berni Rodriguez brought the guests within 22-18 after 10 minutes. Three-pointers by Popovic, Jiri Welsch and German Gabriel completed Unicaja's comeback, 26-29. Popovic kept pacing Unicaja, Gabriel took over with a wild four-point play but consecutive triples by Lopez and a tip-in by Hervelle allowed Madrid to get a 41-40 halftime edge. Unicaja opened the second half with consecutive dunks by Marcus Haislip and Ndong. Haislip led a game-breaking 4-22 run that Cabezas capped with 7 unanswered points, good for a 45-62 Unicaja lead late in the third quarter. Hervelle and Reyes tried to change things for Madrid while a layup by Charles Smith brought the hosts within 60-68 with 4 minutes to go. Cabezas beat the shot clock buzzer with a corner three-pointer and free throw accuracy allowed Unicaja to steal the home court advantage in the series.
| Quarterfinal Playoffs, best of 3 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | | 0 | Real Madrid (1) | 73 | May 17 | *May 19 | | 1 | Unicaja (8) | 89 | - | - | | 1 | Tau Ceramica(4) | 87 | May 18 | *May 20 | | 0 | Pamesa Valencia (5) | 79 | - | - | | 1 | DKV Joventut (2) | 85 | May 18 | *May 20 | | 0 | Akasvayu Girona (7) | 72 | - | - | | 1 | AXA FC Barcelona (3) | 75 | May 18 | *May 20 | | 0 | iurbentia Bilbao (6) | 64 | - | - |
| Quarterfinal games | | Game 1 | Real Madrid vs. Unicaja | 73-89 | May 15 | | Game 1 | DKV Joventut vs. Akasvayu Girona | 85-72 | May 16 | | Game 1 | AXA FC Barcelona vs. iurbentia Bilbao | 75-64 | May 16 | | Game 1 | Tau Ceramica vs. Pamesa Valencia | 87-79 | May 16 | | Game 2 | Unicaja vs. Real Madrid | - | May 17 | | Game 2 | Akasvayu Girona vs. DKV Joventut | - | May 18 | | Game 2 | iurbentia Bilbao vs. AXA FC Barcelona | - | May 18 | | Game 2 | Pamesa Valencia vs. Tau Ceramica | - | May 18 | | Game 3 | Real Madrid vs. Unicaja | - | *May 19 | | Game 3 | DKV Joventut vs. Akasvayu Girona | - | *May 20 | | Game 3 | AXA FC Barcelona vs. iurbentia Bilbao | - | *May 20 | | Game 3 | Tau Ceramica vs. Pamesa Valencia | - | *May 20 |
|
|
Euroleague.net
|
Print Send Share
|