MIES (Switzerland) - The Final 8 is serious business and it will culminate in crowning the 2020-21 Basketball Champions League champion, but it is also a big celebration of our sport, so it should be (and it will be) a great deal of fun, too.

What better way to kick back, bring some levity to the whole affair than to treat each of the four Quarter-Finals as an entertaining basketball arcade game that entered popular culture?

Let's start with the Friday May 6 clash between Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon and Hereda San Pablo Burgos: We pick C.J. Harris and Isaiah Miles from Holon and Vitor Benite with Jasiel Rivero from Burgos and pit these dynamic duos against each other in... 2-on-2 basketball!

THREE-POINT SHOOTING

Boomshakalaka Rating: Holon 85% -- Burgos 70%

Holon Duo: Holon's smallball means that more often than not Isiah Miles finds himself guarding the opposing team's center, but on offense he rarely steps inside the arc and the bulk of the shots he takes are three-pointers - and with good reason, as he is shooting 52 percent from downtown (3.4 of 6.5 on average).

He is averaging an almost identical 52.2 from two-point range, but he only attempts 1.9 two-point shots per game. If you have the same
degree of accuracy from either behind or inside the arc, well it's a no-brainer to take the three.

C.J. Harris meanwhile demonstrably prefers to drive to the basket whenever possible - and since he can easily blow past his defender, that is quite often - but he still takes 5.3 triples per contest, and hitting 44.8 percent.

Burgos Duo: Vitor Benite doesn't need to present his credentials, because he has proven through multiple seasons in the BCL that he is one of the competition's best volume three-point shooters. The Brazilian international however has suffered the consequences of this particular season and his game rhythm has been erratic, so although his three-point attempts are almost identical to last season (he is taking 5.9 triples per game compared with 5.8 in 2019-20) his accuracy has dropped to 41.5 percent from 47.5 percent last season.

Jasiel Rivero's improvement on all fronts has been impressive over the last couple of season and his long-range shooting is not an exception, as he has moved further from the basket and he now poses a regular threat from anywhere on the floor. He is shooting a very decent for a big man 33.3 percent from downtown, and he is not forcing the issue when he doesn't have good looks from deep.

EFFICIENCY

Boomshakalaka Rating: Holon 75% -- Burgos 65%

Holon Duo: Both Harris and Miles average an identical efficiency rating of 15.7, with Holon outscoring their opponent by an average of 2.5 points when the former is on the floor and by 5 points when the latter is in the game. This plus-minus rating is already very good and it looks even better when one considers that Harris plays 32.2 minutes per game on average and Miles 28.3 minutes. Impressively, Miles has one of the highest effective field goal percentages in the league, 72.3 percent.

Burgos Duo: Burgos have a deeper rotation than Holon and consequently both Rivero and Benite play fewer minutes than their Holon counterparts, which of course limits somewhat their efficiency rating. Rivero's average efficiency rating is a team-high 16.8 per game and Burgos outscore opponents by 6.8 points with the Cuban big man on the floor. Benite meanwhile has an average efficiency rating of 12.2 and the Spanish team are an impressive +8 points when the Brazilian is playing.

CLUTCH

Boomshakalaka Rating: Holon 70% -- Burgos 80%

Holon Duo: The Israeli team were involved in five games that were decided by a margin of 5 points or fewer and, after losing the very first one (the season-opener at AEK) they went on to win the next four, including the two crucial clashes with Brindisi and the road game against Karsiyaka in Izmir. Neither Harris nor Miles made the game-winners in the vital games but they both had very solid contributions in crunch time.

Burgos Duo: You don't win the BCL title without being able to prevail in close games but, with Burgos having made a habit of winning big, we kind of forget how good they can be in crunch time. The reigning champions are 3-2 in games that went down to the wire in this campaign, but the most memorable exhibition of clutch factor came in the home game against VEF Riga on March 2, because it felt as if Rivero imposed his will to win on the outcome of the game. The Cuban had a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds and added 2 steals to help Burgos come back from a 10-poitn deficit, force overtime and ultimately clinch a 76-75 win.

X-FACTOR

Boomshakalaka Rating: Holon 70% -- Burgos 80%

Holon Duo: Harris and Miles are a perfect fit to the style of play that coach Stefanos Dedas has implemented at Holon, and they seem to be very comfortable with the unpredictability that comes with it and, whatever role is demanded of them according to the situation. Both players can come up big and turn around a game, but their lower rating here is due to the fact that the Burgos duo have a trophy to show for it.

Burgos Duo: It's difficult to predict which Burgos player will emerge in each game as the MVP or simply the guy who will shake things up (although Thad McFadden certainly has established a well-earned reputation in that aspect) but Benite carries himself with gravitas and has scored in double digits in every single game this season, while Rivero is so resourceful, strong and tenacious that the two of them would demand attention even they just simply stood on the floor. Teammates and opponents alike regard them as extremely dependable, and it takes time to earn so much respect.