The Taronjas had lost seven straight games to the Basque side, but they came out on top in Round 23.
Defense and Brandon Davies lifted Valencia past Baskonia
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Regular Season
Round 23 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Valencia Basket’s first objective when it headed into Friday night’s game against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at Buesa Arena was pretty simple: win.
The second objective, taking the head-to-head advantage between the teams, was probably not being considered too seriously by many people in the Taronjas camp after suffering an 84-98 defeat to Baskonia at the start of December. After all, winning on the road in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague is difficult enough, without even starting to think about winning by 15.
As the game went on, though, that distant ambition started to become a distinct possibility, as Valencia raced into a 16-point lead, 29-45, at the end of a low-scoring first half and maintained a double-digit margin throughout the vast majority of the second period.
Brandon Davies was vital for Valencia
Inside the last 2 minutes, Matt Costello’s three-pointer dragged Baskonia back to 62-75, so Valencia needed something else. And that something came from the game’s MVP Brandon Davies, who drove to the basket to unload a fierce Statue of Liberty dunk.
And that was it – after successfully defending a three-point attempt from Tadas Sedekerskis and running out the remainder of the clock, Valencia had exactly the outcome it probably it did not dare to believe was possible: both a victory and the head-to-head advantage.
The 62-77 final outcome represented Baskonia’s worst scoring night of the season, so it was no surprise that Davies – who had 19 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots for a PIR of 24 – chose to focus his postgame assessment on that side of the court.
In particular, Davies was delighted with Valencia's ability to restrict Baskonia’s prolific guard Markus Howard to just 7 points, singling out a pair of teammates for specific praise.
“We really locked in defensively,” he said. "And I’ve got to give credit to Justin Anderson and Xabi [Lopez-Arostegui]. They did a great job against a great scorer, keeping him contained and locked up.
“This is a tough place to play. A lot of teams come here and fold, so I’m glad we didn’t. We kept our composure, got that win and got the points difference, too.”
Ending an unwanted record against Baskonia
The victory should also give Valencia a big boost in confidence for two other reasons: firstly, it ends a seven-game losing run against Baskonia in all competitions, including an 83-74 defeat at Buesa Arena in the Spanish League just before the EuroLeague loss towards the end of last year.
And secondly, Friday’s win was the second in a row for Valencia against a direct opponent, having come from behind to down EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 84-72 last week. Heading into another double-round week, with games on the road at Crvena Zvezda Meridian Bet Belgrade and ALBA Berlin, the self-belief generated by those two wins should prove valuable.
Valencia head coach Alex Mumbru echoed Davies’s sentiments about the defensive performance, also underlining the importance of his team’s fourth-quarter resistance when Baskonia’s only real push of the game reduced the deficit to just 3 points.
“Today was a really tough game," stated the second-year boss. "Baskonia tried to make a comeback, but we managed to hold that 3-point lead. We played calmly, we played well in defense, and we won a game which is really important for us.”
Exactly how important remains to be seen, but the win itself and – even more so – the winning margin could end up proving crucial in the race for the playoffs.