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Shurna decided the first game

Shurna used the Sikma and Peterson's absence at the number four in an excellent way and turned around the first game in Valencia's favor. But everyone agrees that today will be a much more difficult game for Valencia because Unicaja will be playing at the upper limit of aggressiveness

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Unicaja went into the play-off in great form and we considered they could be a possible surprise in this round of the competition. In the first game against Valencia they confirmed their quality, they were in the lead in the last quarter, but then they were demolished by Shurna's impossible run, he scored 10 points in the last three minutes. Nedovic also kept up, but he made some mistakes in the finish and Unicaja missed a great chance in a game in which they were the better team: 

- We played a good game, but unfortunately, the details are always crucial in the finish, and they were not in our favor this time. We started the game well with backcourt shots, but that tricked us a bit because we forgot to drop the ball into the paint and that is where we lost our balance. I believe we can return this series to Valencia and that is our goal - said Plaza.

Unicaja will just have to repeat the game from a few weeks ago when they easily defeated Valencia here by using their strongest weapons - defense and rebounds. Valencia have had a lot of problems with that in the first game, and if it weren't for Shurna's crazy run, who knows how that game would have ended. 

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We will definitely see Unicaja at the top limit of aggressiveness today, which means strong defense and fight for every rebound. Cooley and Vasquez are especially important for defense here because against Valencia it is crucial to stop Hamilton and Dubljevic, which Unicaja did great in the first game. It is hard to expect something similar to that run from Shurna, so a lot will depend on defense on position five. 

Valencia are aware just how lucky they were in the first game because that was not their good performance and it was partially because of Unicaja's performance. Luckily for them, Shurna showed up, a power forward who was not really mentioned this season, and with 10 points in the final minutes he turned the game around in Valencia's favor: 

- Shurna is the proof that we always play with all players and some else can always stand out. This was a team win in a difficult game, and every game in this series will be like that. We know that Unicaja will be even more aggressive in Malaga and we have to prepare for that - said coach Martinez.

Valencia have, in the last games, had a lot of problems with teams like that and it will be interesting how they will react today. As we said, Shurna was the X factor in the first fame, and one of the reasons Peterson did not play, is that Martinez evaluated that he had not had enough practice with the team for a such game. 

We should point out the records of Valencia's most experienced players, San Emeterio and Martinez, who were very useful in the first game, and they are expected to contribute offensively today as well, because otherwise Valencia will have so much problems against Unicaja's aggressive defense. Sato, Stefansson and Vives are not the players who could create much in offense against such defense and that is why a lot will depend on the efficiency of those older players.