Dubai Basketball kept alive their dream of going all the way in the ABA League by booking a spot in the play-off semi-finals with a superb win over Cedevita Olimpija at the Coca-Cola Arena on Tuesday.
Meeting the Slovenians in the rubber match of their best of three series, Dubai were clear and deserved winners as they held the lead throughout the match before finalising a 85-76 triumph.
Making their debut in the ABA League, Dubai will next meet Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade, who swept aside Spartak Office Shoes 2-0 in their quarter-final. Game 1 of the semi-final series will be in Belgrade on May 26, ahead of a return in Dubai on May 29.
In the other semi-final, Serbian side Crvena Zvezda and Montenegro’s Buducnost VOLI clash after overcoming BC Igokea and KK Mega, respectively.
The Dubai head coach Jurica Golemac felt “really proud” and congratulated his players for their accomplishment on the night.
“We’ve worked for this. We didn’t perform well in Slovenia [in Game 2]. We watched the tape and knew that wasn’t us. We analysed and had two good practices leading up to today, with a lot of faith in each other – which is crucial when playing together,” the Slovenian said.
“Today we missed 12 free throws and hit only seven threes, but defensively everyone was on their feet, helping each other and fighting for all 40 minutes.
“Congratulations again to the players. I also want to thank the fans – they were our sixth player. Whenever we felt a bit tired, they lifted us up.
“Congratulations to Olimpija on a great series. We knew they were our toughest quarter-final matchup, but we didn’t shy away; we wanted to prove we were the better team.
“Now it’s Partizan – we’ve already played them twice. They’re favourites, having been the favourites in this quarter-final, but now it’s Partizan’s turn. We’re confident we can compete with them and will do everything to reach the finals.”
Awudu Abass dazzled with 17 points and six rebounds while Nate Mason (18) and Dubai’s NBA veteran Davis Bertans (12) chipped in with useful contributions in the win.
“It was a good game,” Abass said. “Ljubljana was our toughest matchup because they beat us at home – one of the few teams to win here in Dubai.
“So they know how to play well here. But today, we really controlled the game. We fought for each other, we shared the ball – something we didn’t do in the last games.
“I’m very proud of my teammates because, at the end of the day, we’ve been working since August for these moments. This was a great game for us.”
The Olimpija head coach Zvezdan Mitrovic, acknowledged Dubai were deserved semi-finalists.
“This was a very interesting series – three games. In the end, it was our worst game,” he said. “Maybe we struggled because of the roster and the players available. In the second half, we were without one of our best players – Devin Robinson – who was out with an injury. But definitely, Dubai deserved to go to the semi-finals.”
