Barça v Real Madrid: out to make it 2-0 at El Palau
Our team will be aiming for a repeat of Monday's win on the Azulgranas' court to edge closer to the league title (9pm CET).
Real Madrid is back in action at the Palau Blaugrana and bidding to make it 2-0 in the Endesa League final. Forty-eight hours after having beaten Barça on its floor in Game 1, the Whites tonight face the second bout, before this best-of-five series moves to Madrid on Friday. Our boys, who have to contend with the absence of Randolph, will again be looking for their team spirit to ensure they keey up the perfect record in this playoff campaign, in which they are unbeaten.
“In our heads, it all starts over again”. These are the words of Hanga, one of the standout performers in Game 1, in relation to how the team will approach this second match-up. The madridistas will need to display the same mental strength and unity that has seen them overcome all obstacles to put a winning 12-match run together since 17 April, including the six league playoff match-ups played to date. Monday's victory should represent the path to follow after the guests totally dominated Barça for 30 minutes thanks to being able to strike the right balance between offense and defense, perfom well in terms of shooting accuracy and rebounds, which proved to be a key element as the team played a high-tempo game.
Superiority in the inside game
The good piece of news was the return of Abalde, who will contribute in the playmaker role. Hanga, Causeur and Juan Núñez are doing a fine job of calling the shots in the wake of the absences of three of the team's playmakers. The bad news came with the serious injury to Randolph. The power forward tore his cruciate ligament in his left kneww in the first match-up. Barça was without Sanli, which was a major loss. Tavares, Poirier, Yabusele and Deck outperformed Mirotic, Smits, Davies and company in the paint. In 81.8% of cases in which the guests win the first game in the series, the team without home-court advantage end up being crowned champions. Victory tonight could be decisive in terms of the outcome of the series.
“In our heads, it all starts over again”. These are the words of Hanga, one of the standout performers in Game 1, in relation to how the team will approach this second match-up. The madridistas will need to display the same mental strength and unity that has seen them overcome all obstacles to put a winning 12-match run together since 17 April, including the six league playoff match-ups played to date. Monday's victory should represent the path to follow after the guests totally dominated Barça for 30 minutes thanks to being able to strike the right balance between offense and defense, perfom well in terms of shooting accuracy and rebounds, which proved to be a key element as the team played a high-tempo game.
Superiority in the inside game
The good piece of news was the return of Abalde, who will contribute in the playmaker role. Hanga, Causeur and Juan Núñez are doing a fine job of calling the shots in the wake of the absences of three of the team's playmakers. The bad news came with the serious injury to Randolph. The power forward tore his cruciate ligament in his left kneww in the first match-up. Barça was without Sanli, which was a major loss. Tavares, Poirier, Yabusele and Deck outperformed Mirotic, Smits, Davies and company in the paint. In 81.8% of cases in which the guests win the first game in the series, the team without home-court advantage end up being crowned champions. Victory tonight could be decisive in terms of the outcome of the series.