Baskonia finished second in the regular season and will always have the home court factor in their favour, except when they have to meet Barcelona. The team faced the game with the loss and consequent discarding of Giedraitis. He has lumbar discomfort and, although he did not disclose, he did not even travel to Girona. That allowed Enoch to be discharged. In the Catalan group, already saved, old men known as Colom or Garino. In addition, Hanzlik, who is on loan to that team from Baskonia himself, as Savkov was in his day in the relegated Fuenlabrada. Those from Buesa had not visited Fontajau for fifteen years.
The team from Vitoria started 0-5 but the Catalans got into dynamics and tied the match moments later. Marc Gasol, who has yet to announce whether he continues or not, entered the game at minute 4. The first thing he did was a dream bounce pass to Taylor, who crashed into Hommes. He then put a couple of blocks, missed a triple, starred in the mate of the night and returned to the bench. Girona was in the game thanks to the offensive rebound (5/0) one of the statistical facets in which they clearly surpassed Joan Peñarroya’s team (11-12, min. 6). The Basque team stepped up the accelerator a bit in the final moments of the first installment and left at the end of the first 10 minutes with a 15-21 lead.
By the 12th, with a triple by Marinkovic, Baskonia already surpassed the ten difference with the 16-27. At that time, the locals had 10% in triples and the visitors, 40. Halfway through the second installment, the luminous player was already 22-36. An unsportsmanlike performance by Costello and a triple by Hill reduced the difference to just 6 points. The streak ended with a technique to the bench. But the people from Girona failed to take free throws and halftime was reached with the same difference, with a 34-40 score that left both teams with serious chances of victory.
The initial quarter after going through the locker room was 0-6. The Cazoo defended with intensity and scored easily. With the 35-49, those of Peñarroya returned to equal their maximum difference. Almost four minutes had elapsed and the Catalans had only gotten one point thanks to a free kick. The percentage of those of García Reneses, from that distance, was very poor. But Hill came to the rescue with his three-pointer and the team from Vitoria couldn’t break the game in the third quarter (49-55, min. 27). The same thing happened to Baskonia in that third installment as in the second: get to 14 and see again how the Catalans were approaching. Fjellerup made a great penetration that led to another timeout with a fight from Joan Peñarroya. Howard, with a ponytail, barely contributed to the game. The final quarter was 10-4 but the Catalan team got to 3 with 52-55.
At the beginning of the last installment there was an unsportsmanlike action against Raieste that took time to be confirmed with the Challenge. The music of the Pink Panther, who is celebrating his sixtieth birthday, took over Fontajau. It was a festive night for the people of Girona, with performances at halftime and a celebration for their permanence. Miletic once again put his team within 3 points with two free throws made (61-64, min. 35). It was when panic broke out in the Baskonia ranks. Girona, in fact, got to 1 with 63-64. But an unsportsmanlike play by Colom put Peñarroya’s men on the road to victory and confirmation of second place in the regular phase of the ACB League. It will come in handy for the Playoffs. Hill tried to come back, Taylor helped him but missed from free throws and the one who came off the bench to hit another dream three-pointer was, of course, Markus Howard. The good work of Thompson in the last moments was also definitive.
