By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After splitting last week’s contests at Palau Blaugrana, FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich will be back at it again as the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Quarterfinals best-of-five series shifts to Audi Dome. Game 3 will take place Wednesday night and Game 4 will follow a couple of days later.
Yet to be cleared to return to action, Cory Higgins accompanied his teammates on the trip to Germany Tuesday. Into the bottom stretch of recovery and nearly ready to resume team practices following surgery for chronic plantar fasciitis in his left foot in February, the Colorado product and two-time EuroLeague champion will support his teammates in Germany.
On the opposite end, Leon Radosevic is considered questionable to play in Game 3 after picking up an ankle injury in Game 2. Corey Walden (back) and Darrun Hilliard (collarbone) will not be available, as confirmed by Bayern head coach Andrea Trinchieri.
“I believe the game will be extremely physical with a lot of contacts. They will try to play big. We will have to respond to that,” the Italian mastermind previewed Game 3, “We know everything about both teams, so it will come down to what player can do something in that specific moment.”
“Nothing has changed. We are clearly the outsiders,” added Nihad Djedovic, “We won in Barcelona because we played an extremely good game. But that does not change our approach.”
If the series gets knotted at two wins apiece, Game 5 will become necessary to decide which team will be playing in the season-ending Final Four. The next EuroLeague champion will be crowned in Belgrade’s Stark Arena on 21 May.
Photo Credit: Barca Basket Twitter