Real Madrid-Unicaja: first league semi-finals clash
Chus Mateo’s charges will be looking to go 1-0 up at the Movistar Arena in the best-of-five series (9.15 pm CEST).
Real Madrid and Unicaja open the Liga Endesa semi-final series this evening at the Movistar Arena. Chus Mateo's men will try to take the lead in a best-of-five series with home-court advantage. This will be the third time that the two teams have faced each other in the round preceding the ACB final. In the two previous meetings, the Madridistas reached the final.
After beating Baskonia 2-0 in the quarter-finals, Real Madrid will now face the penultimate obstacle on their road to their 38th league title in Andalusia. The Whites are invincible in the second half of the season and come into the semi-finals with 24 consecutive victories and undefeated this year. The Movistar Arena has also become an unassailable fortress for their opponents. The last defeat for the Madridistas was in March 2024. Since then, they have racked up 27 straight wins, 18 of which have come this season, and are just one away from equalling the record of 19 in 2010/11, which is the record for a single season.
Unicaja, who finished fourth in the Regular Season with 23 wins and 11 defeats, stand in Madrid's way. Ibon Navarro's team are the reigning Copa del Rey and Super Cup champions and recently eliminated Barcelona in the quarter-finals 2-1 after a fantastic comeback in the last game. This is a team with a very broad and well-balanced squad. They boast an attack with plenty of depth, based on their speed and their success on the perimeter with Perry, Taylor, Carter, Kalinoski, Osetkowski and company; and an aggressive defence with highly physical players such as Díaz, Tyson and Sima. Real Madrid will have to show why they have been the best defence in the Regular Season.
Madrid's might
The Madridistas have been performing brilliantly as a team. The latest example was the game in Vitoria, where they put in their best offensive performance of the season in the league with 112 points, seven players in double figures in PIR and 6 in scoring. Tavares is another determining factor. The centre averaged 15 points, 11.5 rebounds and 28.5 in PIR in the first round. He is three blocks away from equalling Fernando Romay as the second highest blocker in the Liga ACB. Madrid have racked up 10 straight wins in the play-offs and are looking for their 11th in a row today to take the lead in the semi-final series.