SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LA LAGUNA (Spain) - Rytas Vilnius beat ERA Nymburk, AEK BC beat Asisa Joventut, and Unicaja beat ALBA BERLIN. Wednesday night opened with three hosts defending homecourt in Game 1.
La Laguna Tenerife didn't want to miss the home party in front of a sellout crowd of 5,100 fans, and did the same thing against Galatasaray MCT Technic.
Following a thrilling 84-83 win against the team that beat them in last season's Semi-Finals, they're now up 1-0 in the Quarter-Finals of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL.
Turning Point
Tenerife made an early statement entering Game 1 and made sure Galatasaray couldn't keep up with their pace at the start of the second half, but Gianmarco Pozzecco's team were only inches away from the upset.
Once the hosts lost Marcelinho Huertas after committing two technical fouls, Txus Vidorreta's team lost their spark in the ultimate minutes of the game. The Turkish team had a 14-0 run to go down by just one point (84-83).
Tim Abromaitis had two consecutive misses at the line with five seconds to play, and James Palmer Jr had the shot to win Game 1.
However, his attempt didn't dance into the net, Tenerife survived at home.
Player of the Game
If anybody told you that Patty Mills would have contributed to Tenerife's Game 1 win in the BCL Quarter-Finals of Season X, you would have thought about some curious April Fools jokes. Instead, it's true.
The Australian legend came off the bench against Galatasaray, but still ended up being his team's highest scorer with 20 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-4 at the charity stripe. Game changer.
Stats don't lie
While Galatasaray had a solid outcome from beyond the arc, finishing with 12-of-32 in three-pointers (including 5-of-9 in the second quarter), Tenerife won Game 1 near the basket.
The two-time champions outscored the opponents 40-28 in points from the paint despite being outrebounded offensively 10-6 by the guests. Tenerife were better in steals (6-3), while Galatasaray had more blocks (5-2).
Bottom line
While Patty Mills stole the show, the usual duo composed of Marcelinho Huertas (12 points and 5 assists) and Giorgi Shermadini (14 points over 5-of-7 FG) contributed as always with leadership and classy plays for Tenerife.
If the thrilling end of Game 1 taught us something, it's that this has the potential of being an unforgettable Quarter-Final series. Game 2 will be played in Istanbul on April 8 at 19:00 CET.
It will be the right occasion for James Palmer Jr to get his revenge against the Spaniards after his game-winning shot went out. Despite that, he still had 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Errick McCollum added 16 points.
They said
"Playoff basketball I think every competitor, every basketballer wants to be in these positions to be able to compete, to win, and for us is whatever needs to be done to win. So to be in this position and experience playoff basketball, BCL basketball, everything is on the line to get a win at our home - it's good. It’s positive. It’s only one game, though, we know full well that when we have to go over there it’ll be tough. The process of what we can learn from tonight and put it into how we can continue to improve, how I can continue to help this team, it’s an enjoyable process. And one I’ve been having a lot of fun doing, but again it comes back to competing and doing anything that is necessary to win." - Patty Mills, La Laguna Tenerife