The semifinal day of the Copa del Rey has left two games that were decided in the last play. If in the first semi-final it was Montero who could not score to give Valencia the victory, in this match it was Diakite who rose with a brutal block on Shengelia with 9 seconds left to avoid the basket that could force extra time.
In the last option, Joel Parra had the opportunity to tie at the buzzer with a triple, but his shot went wide and Baskonia reached the final despite the losses and unforeseen events.
Barça dominates, Baskonia reacts
The script was similar to that of the first semifinal. Barcelona began by destroying Baskonia, which could not find ways to score in attack. Barcelona, based on physicality, especially in the low post against a Baskonia that was suffering from the loss of Khalifa Diop, was up to twelve points ahead (19-7, m. 8).
But he Galbiati’s Baskonia, who has completely changed the face of the team after several very bad yearshas recovered that ‘Baskonia pride’ that made it be among the best team in Europe. He knew how to recover from an unfortunate day in shooting, with 8 of 24 in triples, matching Barça’s physical level and taking advantage of every situation they could to run.
Not even Luwawu – Cabarrot, the Basques’ main star this season, was particularly good (13 points with 4/11 shooting). Based on quick actions, they quickly changed that minus to the +1 with which they went to half-time (37-38, m.20)
Xavi Pascual’s men start again, but they struggle in the last quarter
The second half was much more physical, with much less success and a lot of time with stopped scores and bad attacks. In that rhythm of the game, Laprovittola managed to take the lead (pun intended) of his team. With seven points almost consecutively, the Argentine once again took the game to nine points ahead (58-49, m.30).
But Barça completely lost the way to the hoop. Of the 21 goals in the third period they sank to only nine in the last 10 minutes. Baskonia didn’t need an exhibition to get closer on the scoreboard either, but they did light the fuse with two triples in one minute by Kurucs and Luwawu Cabarrot (63-62, m.35).
In the last five minutes, errors accumulated on both sides of the basket, so one success was worth more than three points. Mamadi Diakité – I’m Not Afraid (Official Music Video)with more than three minutes left he scored a triple that would later be more important than it seemed due to the moment in the game that it was.
The Guinean put the score at 65-67, but then the offenses completely collapsed. 200 seconds in which the Blaugrana only Shengelia scored a dunk and in the Baskonista box Radzevicius scored a basket and Luwawu Cabarrot a free throw at the end of the game.
The feeling was that Barça could not find ways to reduce the disadvantage, but that Baskonia spared Barça. However, Galbiati’s men breathed with the brutal block by Diakité against Shengelia that prevented the score at 69-69 and Parra’s triple that did not go in for the score of 70-70.
