Valencia Basket destroys Gran Canaria in the first assault
A historic third quarter and a brilliant Jean Montero drive Pedro Martínez’s team in the start of the ‘Playoffs’
Valencia Basket has struck first in the opening game of the quarter-finals ‘Playoffs’ of the Liga Endesa, after defeating Dreamland Gran Canaria at the Fuente de San Luis Pavilion (98-74), a victory supported by a spectacular third quarter and the 21 points from Dominican point guard Jean Montero.
After arriving with a modest three-point lead at halftime, the 34-8 in the third quarter – an unprecedented +26, with 7 out of 11 in three-pointers – allowed Pedro Martínez’s team to escape on the scoreboard and present themselves in the second game, on Wednesday at the Gran Canaria Arena, with a favorable 1-0 lead. Montero, with 21 points and 19 efficiency rating, led the Valencians.
In front of a packed Fonteta, the team led by Pedro Martínez, second in the regular season, opened up a lead led by Dominican Jean Montero, who in just six minutes forced the first timeout by the Canarians with his nine points (17-9). Meanwhile, the visiting team showed their struggles to score – shooting 4 out of 14 from the field – and closed eleven points behind in the first quarter (26-15).
Despite this, Jaka Lakovic’s team managed to react, led by former player Mike Tobey. The American center, who had a perfect 23/23 shooting inside against his former teammates this season, missed the first shot but went to the locker room with 11 points that tightened the contest. In fact, American guard Caleb Homesley had a three-pointer to tie the game at halftime, but his shot didn’t go in (44-41).
However, Valencia Basket managed to pull away again as soon as the game resumed. A three-pointer by point guard Chris Jones kicked off an 11-point run for the Valencia team (55-43), which was only interrupted by a basket from Frenchman Pierre Pelos, but the locals were on a roll.
With Lakovic’s team completely overwhelmed, another 18-0 run, with Pelos once again stopping the bleeding, sealed the victory for Valencia Basket, who closed out the best historical quarter (34-8) in the ‘Playoffs’, surpassing a record set by Real Madrid and Barcelona four years ago and giving them a comfortable 78-49 lead going into the final quarter.
Dreamland Gran Canaria showed pride by winning the final quarter, but the gap was already insurmountable. The second showdown of the series, where Valencia will try to secure their spot in the semifinals, will take place next Wednesday at the Gran Canaria Arena.
TECHNICAL SHEET.
–RESULT: VALENCIA BASKET, 98 – DREAMLAND GRAN CANARIA, 78 (44-41, at halftime).
TEAMS.
VALENCIA BASKET: Badio (7), Montero (21), Puerto (4), Pradilla (3), and Reuvers (8) — starting lineup–; De Larrea (10), Jones (13), López-Arostegui (5), Soriano (5), Sestina (8), Ojeleye (3), and Costello (11).
DREAMLAND GRAN CANARIA: Albicy (3), Thomasson (6), Brussino (7), Shurna (-), and Tobey (11) — starting lineup–; Kljajic (3), Conditt (4), Homesley (5), Pelos (12), Salvó (13), Samar (2), and Diop (8).
–QUARTER SCORES: 26-15, 18-26, 34-8, and 20-25.
–REFEREES: Caballero, Torres, and Fernández Carretero. No players fouled out.
–VENUE: Fuente de San Luis.