Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Liga Endesa match.
At first glance, a play-off series between the top and eighth seeds following the regular season standings might appear to lack intrigue. However, this encounter is far from straightforward. Saski Baskonia have already defeated Real Madrid Baloncesto once this season and lost the other three meetings by no more than seven points.
Real Madrid Baloncesto
There is little value in assessing Real Madrid Baloncesto solely by their performances in the Spanish regular season, where their roster significantly outclasses most opponents. The EuroLeague play-offs showed that the squad's veteran core is struggling to match the intensity of elite-level basketball—something Saski Baskonia are expected to bring.
Saski Baskonia
Saski Baskonia recently wrapped up their play-off preparations with a convincing 110:98 home win over Barcelona Bàsquet. Their standout performer, Marcus Howard, has hit peak form at the business end of the season, averaging 17.6 points across his last three outings. Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot is also enjoying a strong run; the French forward has scored at least 12 points in each of the last six rounds, consistently delivering in clutch moments.
Real Madrid Baloncesto vs Saski Baskonia Prediction
Saski Baskonia are expected to lose heavily, but their current momentum and previous narrow defeats to Real Madrid Baloncesto suggest they are well positioned to put up a resilient performance. We're backing the visitors with a positive handicap.
