Unicaja-Real Madrid: all out to defend league top spot
A huge game at the Martín Carpena sees the two best teams in the competition go head-to-head (6:30pm CET).
Real Madrid face a key match for their aspirations of finishing first in the Regular League. This evening, the league leaders visit second-placed Unicaja Malaga, just one win behind them, in the best match that can be seen today in the Spanish competition. It will be a rematch of the Murcia Super Cup final, which Madrid won, and the team's return to the Martín Carpena, where they lifted the 29th Copa del Rey a month later.
First versus second and the league leadership at stake. An evening of great basketball. Real Madrid are having a great season and the only team that has been able to follow in their wake is Malaga. The Whites have just sealed their qualification for the Euroleague play-offs with a win against Virtus Bologna on one of the most difficult courts in Europe. They travel from one difficult court to another, as Unicaja have only lost one game at home (to Valencia Basket). Ibon Navarro's side have won 19 of their last 20 games.
Real Madrid have the best attack in LaLiga (88.7 points on average) and the second best defence (77.9), and will face a Unicaja team that is third in points scored (87.5) and the one that concedes the least (76.6). Two rivals whose greatest strength lies in the team itself, as reflected in the ranking in the +/- statistics, led by 8 players from these two teams: Tavares, Campazzo, Musa, Osetkowski, Kalinoski, Taylor, Abalde and Díaz, in that order. Special attention must be paid to their outside shooting, with the American trio of Perry, Taylor and Carter.
Unicaja and Málaga, both present in our achievements this season
Our opponents have been involved in some way in the two titles we have won so far this season, Supercopa and Copa del Rey. In the first, we beat them in the final in Murcia by 81-88. And in the second, on 18 February, we won a new Copa del Rey on their court, beating Barcelona 96-85. But we must not forget that Unicaja was the first team to beat us this season, in Liga game 10 at the WiZink Center (93-99). A demanding assignment before facing a busy week with three away games.