FC Barcelona – Unicaja: heart stopping win! (77-74)

FC Barcelona – Unicaja: heart stopping win! (77-74)

A Navarro three pointer with half a minute left on the clock ensured a ninth successive ACB Final for the Club

Barça’s win over Unicaja in the fifth game of the ACB semi-finals at the Palau on Sunday evening means the Club will play in its ninth consecutive league final, where they'll face regular season champions Real Madrid in what promises to be a thrilling finale to the season.

Nervous start

In the end, the play off went down to the wire, with a dramatic last gasp three pointer from Navarro giving Barça the edge after five hard fought and close encounters. It was a nervous start from the hosts and Unicaja, led by Kuzminskas and Granger led 18-20 after the first quarter – a lead they maintained at the break when the teams went in 35-37. It could have been worse for Barça, as Unicaja opened up a seven point gap (19-26) before Hezonja bagged two three pointers and Nachbar chipped in with another to drag Xavi Pascual’s team back into the fight.

Third quarter fightback

Satoransky led the second half fight back with an early three pointer to put Barça ahead and with Doellman, Tomic and Thomas also scoring, they soon led 49-44, before Vasileiadis and Green hit back for Unicaja to leave the scores level on 57-57 going into the last quarter.

Dramatic finale

With the Palau getting right behind the players, Barça lifted themselves again in the final 10 minutes, with some heroic work from Pleiss and Thomas giving them a 68-61 lead before Toolson and Vázquez dragged Unicaja back into contention to leave the scores level on 72-72 with 35 seconds left to play. Then, with nerves on edge and the atmosphere electric, Navarro popped up with a three pointer to bring the house down and steal the game and the place in the final for Barça.

Força Barça
Força Barça

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