Por Ismael Buendia Playoff Time! The Unicaja will start its journey on Tuesday, June 3rd in the fight for the Liga Endesa title at the Carpena against one of the most powerful teams in Europe: Barça (21:15 hours, broadcasted by #Vamos -dial 8-, Movistar Deportes -dial 63- and ⇒Unicaja Baloncesto Radio).
The series, corresponding to the quarterfinals of the competition, is played in a best-of-3 format. The series will start tomorrow in Malaga, the second game will be on Friday in Barcelona, and if needed, a third game would be played at the Martín Carpena on Sunday.
Unicaja, the fourth-placed team, finished the regular season with a record of 23 wins and 10 losses, a position that gives them the home-court advantage in these quarterfinals. On the other hand, the blue and red team finished fifth in the table, with a record of 20-13.
Starting tomorrow, both teams will play their eleventh Playoff series in the Liga Endesa. However, the precedents have not been favorable for Unicaja, as they have lost in all ten previous occasions. It’s worth mentioning that all these matchups were with Barça having the home-court advantage. This time, for the first time, Unicaja will have the home-court advantage in a Liga Endesa Playoff against Barça.
Played Series
Despite the negative balance against Barça in the Liga Endesa Playoff, both teams have played very competitive series. Out of the 10 series, 5 had to be decided in the final game, showing a great historical equality between them.
The first of all these series took place in a full acb final, the unforgettable runner-up in 1995 (3-2). Few missed shots are as positively remembered as Mike Ansley’s non-three-pointer in the fourth game in Ciudad Jardín that could have given Unicaja the title.
The total number of series between Unicaja and Barça in the Liga Endesa Playoffs are:
1995 – Final 3-2
1997 – Quarterfinals 3-2
2000 – Quarterfinals 3-2
2001 – Semifinals 3-0
2004 – Semifinals 3-0
2009 – Semifinals 2-1, series decided in the third game overtime
2010 – Semifinals 3-0
2011 – Quarterfinals 2-0
2015 – Semifinals 3-2
2023- Semifinals 3-1
*Check the Playoff bracket for each season by clicking on the years
Unicaja against history… even more
The precedents between Unicaja and Barça in the Liga Endesa Playoffs demonstrate the complexity of eliminating the Catalan team in the title playoffs, not only for Unicaja.
In fact, Barça has only missed the Liga Endesa semifinals 3 times since the foundation of the acb in the 1983-84 season. It was defeated in the quarterfinals in the following seasons:
1991-92 against Real Madrid (2-0)
2004-05 against Estudiantes (1-3)
2016-17 against Valencia Basket (3-0)
Furthermore, there are more precedents that support Barça’s strength in the Liga Endesa Playoffs. The only time they played the quarterfinals as fifth in the regular season, Barça reached the semifinals. It was in the 1997-98 season defeating Joventut de Badalona with the home-court disadvantage by 1-3.
A precedent for hope
Not everything is negative in the history between both teams. There is a single precedent of a series against Barça with Unicaja having the home-court advantage, which was unforgettable.
It happened in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Euroleague Playoffs. In that series, also in a best-of-three format, Unicaja won the first game 91-75, lost at Palau Blaugrana 80-58, and, in the third and decisive match, Unicaja won a close 67-64 game where Pepe Sánchez was crucial with a three-pointer with 8 seconds left in the game.
That victory led to Unicaja’s historic qualification for the Euroleague Final Four and remains the only Playoff series where they have prevailed.
Additionally, Unicaja and Barça have faced each other in 10 single-game series, 8 Copa del Rey matches, and 2 Supercopa Endesa games, with 9 victories for Barça and 1 for Unicaja.
That lone victory for Unicaja was also epic, in the 2023 Copa del Rey quarterfinals in Badalona, where Unicaja won in overtime 87-89, marking the first step towards winning the trophy in that edition.
⇒ALL PRECEDENTS
Potent Roster
Barça has had an inconsistent season with a talented roster that brought them to the brink of the Euroleague Final Four. Notable players include their two non-EU players, power forward Jabari Parker, a member of the 2nd Liga Endesa Best Team (13 points, 3.8 rebounds, 13.1 efficiency), and shooting guard Kevin Punter (13.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists).
In addition to them, there are players like point guard Tomas Satoransky (8.6 points, 4.3 assists), small forwards Justin Anderson (8.1 points, 2.5 rebounds) and Joel Parra (8.6 points, 4.1 rebounds), and center Willy Hernangómez (8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds). Not to forget former Unicaja players Darío Brizuela (9.8 points, 2.8 assists) and Álex Abrines (5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, although he missed the last game due to pubis discomfort), who provide perimeter threat for Joan Peñarroya’s team.
Unicaja will face Barça on Tuesday in the first game of the Liga Endesa Playoff quarterfinals. The game, taking place at the Carpena at 21:15 hours, will be broadcasted by #Vamos -dial 8-, Movistar Deportes -dial 63- and ⇒Unicaja Baloncesto Radio.
Get your tickets ⇒HERE.