Real Madrid seeks to get the title back on track at home
Chus Mateo’s team, who won the first game, once again receive a UCAM Murcia team that needs to react
MADRID, 9 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid seeks to get the Endesa League ‘Playoff’ final on track this Monday at the WiZink Center (8:30 p.m./Movistar Plus+ and Movistar Deportes), after scoring 1-0 at home on Saturday against a UCAM Murcia that will try to surprise at home, as they already did in the semi-final tie against Unicaja.
In the first match of the final series, Chus Mateo’s team made use of the home-field factor to stop a combative university team, which saw its streak of five away victories broken after winning all three matches in Malaga, where it was able to eliminate the best team from the Regular Phase.
The Bosnian forward Dzanan Musa, with 16 points in 19 minutes for a PIR of 20, was the main offensive asset of the Madridistas, who also relied on the Argentine point guard Facundo Campazzo (11 points) to neutralize the notable performances of the Cuban forward Howard Sant-Roos (22 rating) and American guard Troy Caupain (16 points), the best of the visitors.
The white team, still exultant after sweeping Barça in the semis (3-0), wants to once again assert its favoritism and maintain its almost pristine record of the last month, only marred by the defeat in the Euroleague final in Berlin against Panathinaikos.
After eliminating Valencia Basket and Unicaja and sneaking into the first ACB final in their history, Sito Alonso’s men want to react to the first white blow, all with the known absences of Marko Todorovic and Simon Birgander, both due to injury.
According to statistics, whoever manages to make it 1-0 in the final round has greater guarantees of winning the title, specifically a 91.3% chance, having been achieved on 21 of 23 occasions. Of those 21 occasions, on ten (47.6%) the series was resolved by way (3-0), while on seven (33.3%) a fifth game was needed.
The only two cases in which a 1-0 did not end with a victory for the team that started with the home court factor in its favor were those of Real Madrid in the 2015-16 season, when Barça managed to take the lead (1-3); and Valencia Basket in the 2016-17 campaign, when he managed to overcome the initial 1-0 of Real Madrid (1-3).
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
REAL MADRID: Campazzo, Causeur, Musa, Hezonja and Tavares — possible starting quintet–; Llull, Poirier, Yabusele, R. Fernandez, S. Rodriguez, Abalde and Ndiaye.
UCAM MURCIA: Ennis, Hakanson, R.Kurucs, Sleva and Morin –possible starting quintet–; Diagné, Caupain, Radebaugh, Sant-Ross, Flores, Jelinek and Falk.
–REFEREES: ___________.
–PAVILLION: WiZink Center.
–TIME: 20.30/Movistar Plus+ and Movistar Deportes.