By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Whether in the form of a best-of-three series (2005-08) or the best-of-five (2009-today), a playoff game can become the most-remembered event from an entire season. And when a game is decided with the final shot, it overflows with that playoff magic. Eurohoops chose five magical moments that are fixed in time.
Let the countdown begin… 3, 2, 1…
History in the making
The result of their series was going to send a Spanish team to the 2007 Final Four. But which one? Unicaja Malaga or FC Barcelona? With the two teams having split the wins in the first two games of the series (91-75, 80-58), Malaga was the last stop before Athens. The ball looked heavier this time compared to the previous games; the score at Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena was low and, as time went by, it looked like the win and qualification were going to be decided by a detail, a single shot. Bullseye! It came from Pepe Sanchez.
The Argentinian guard’s three-pointer from the left side 7.7 seconds before the end (65-62) didn’t leave Barcelona any room to react as Unicaja made history with a 67-64 victory and a 2-1 series win. That was Unicaja’s first – and to date only – time reaching the Final Four.
