Gran Canaria vs. Lokomotiv Kuban. EuroCup. Preview

After the win in the first quarterfinal game, Lokomotiv Kuban arrives in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to finish the best-of-three series and advance to EuroCup semifinals.

The Take

It is a decisive game. Lokomotiv has a chance to reach the 7DAYS EuroCup Semifinals for the third time in five appearances in the competition, while Gran Canaria needs a win to stay alive in their best-of-three series.

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Report March 6, 22:05

Loko defeats Gran Canaria in first EuroCup quarterfinal game

Gran Canaria won 33 of its last 40 EuroCup games over the last four seasons, but Lokomotiv grabbed a 71-86 win at Gran Canaria Arena last season. Lokomotiv will trust its defense, which has led the team to 17 consecutive wins in a row, the second-longest streak in EuroCup history.

Gran Canaria’s 39.3% two-point shooting percentage was a season low for the Spanish powerhouse. Without injured shooter Marcus Eriksson, D.J. Seeley and Xavi Rabaseda combined for 19 points in Game 1, but might have to do more in front of their fans.

In Game 1, Lokomotiv got its first lead with 90 seconds left after bringing out its best defensive for the final 3 minutes. With Ryan Broekhoff sidelined, Dmitry Kulagin (20 points) and Mardy Collins (13) stepped up to lead Lokomotiv to a come-from-behind win.

Gran Canaria will need to go back to moving the ball the way it did all season – it ranks third in assists (19.7 apg.) but dished just 13 in Krasnodar. Friday’s hosts will also need to get their big men involved, as Ondrej Balvin and Anzejs Pasecniks have a size advantage against Brian Qvale and Frank Elegar.

Hard trip, hard game, a lot of tiredness after all. This is a game of character. Like I underlined after the first game, the way we played in the second half, we have to transfer these emotions, this attitude especially in first couple of minutes. We have to give the tone to the game. We have to put our best in this beginning. Of course the game is long. Gran Canaria is never underdog to anybody, even to big teams live Barcelona, Real Madrid. Even such big teams are never high favourites against the opponent. It’s a hard gym to play, good atmosphere. A lot of team fell on this atmosphere. I expect a hard game. Definitely after all, we had some mistakes. Even though it was a shirt period, we understand and learn from them. And I hope it’s going to be better.

Sasa Obradovic, Head Coach of PBC Lokomotiv Kuban

The game Gran Canaria vs. Lokomotiv Kuban is held on March 9th at 11:00 p.m. Moscow time. Broadcasted by Lokobasket.com and Euroleague.tv