It was not a brilliant match, especially in offence, and both sides missed far too many throws, but Regal Barça always looked in control. Good defence proved the key as Xavi Pascual’s men made it 3-0 in the series to make the final with two games to spare.

Barça dominate despite poor percentages

Both teams started cautiously, but as matters developed some poor finishing from the Catalans prevented them from taking a commanding early lead. Nevertheless, the visitors were almost always ahead. Teletovic and Huertas were marked out of the game, and Dusko Ivanovic opted to rotate early and send on Batista and Logan. That partnership proved effective early on, and it was thanks to them that the Basques edged into a rare lead (14-12). Pascual also moved his bench and by the end of the first period his charges were back in the lead (16-20), and from then on they would never go behind again. In the second period, a Lakovic three (20-28) looked to have finally opened up a margin, but a 4/10 in field goals and 5/9 in free throws meant there was still work to do. But Caja Laboral failed to score much more regularly, and by the break were still trailing by four.

From +10 to appearance of San Emeterio

As in the previous games in the series, it was after the break that Baskonia were suddenly caught out. Navarro, who was so well covered he was struggling to throw, but who was passing and rebounding brilliantly, managed to guide his side to perfection. At 31-41 Ivanovic called timeout and got his response out of Fernando San Emeterio. The man of the match (14 points, six rebounds and evaluation of
17) weathered the Barça storm and produced the goods to narrow the gap and restore hope to the Vitoria crowd.

But no matter what Caja Laboral did, FCB always seemed to have a response. Kosta Perovic was finding dangerous positions all the time, Alan Anderson produced a key three at the start of the final period, and Fran Vázquez was fantastic in the closing minutes as he intimidated the likes of Barac, who he incited into a fifth foul. Barça never dropped their guard and although Baskonia made it back to 61-64 with less than a minute to play, their comeback was thwarted when the Regal Barça defence forced them into a violation for not crossing the half-court in eight seconds. Caja Laboral were in trouble, and Barça were able to secure their win from the free throw, and the game and series ended 61-71 and 0-3.