There have been some epic turnarounds in the EuroCup Playoffs. We take a look at them before Game 2 of the 2025 EuroCup Finals at Gran Canaria Arena
Hapoel Tel Aviv, Gran Canaria can join list of comeback clubs
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Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv and Dreamland Gran Canaria are fighting for the BKT EuroCup title. Hapoel currently has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, but Gran Canaria has survived several do-or-die situations and is ready for the challenge. Both teams have a chance to join very select clubs in competition history.
Gran Canaria can become the third team to win the EuroCup title without having home-court advantage in any series. It downed Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 89-92 in the quarterfinals and eliminated Bahcesehir College Istanbul, registering a 72-76 road win in Game 3 at Sinan Erdem Arena.
Two teams managed to go all the way without any home-court advantage. Valencia Basket was the first to do so in 2014, winning four consecutive two-legged series. It had to wait until the final seconds to go past the quarterfinals against Khimki Moscow Region, as a series-clinching jumper by Pau Ribas gave Valencia the victory with an aggregate score of 157-156. Valencia went on to beat ALBA Berlin in the quarterfinals, Nizhny Novgorod in the semifinals and UNICS Kazan in the Finals. Justin Doellman earned 2014 Finals MVP honors, leading Valencia to consecutive double-digit wins against UNICS for an aggregate score of 165-150.
Only one team was able to win three consecutive best-of-three playoff series without the home-court advantage. Unicaja Malaga eliminated FC Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals, rallying from a 1-0 deficit in the series to win Game 3 69-74 at Audi Dome behind 21 points from Nemanja Nedovic. Unicaja went on to sweep Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in the semifinals before going down 1-0 in the finals against Valencia. Unicaja took Game 2 79-71 and rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final 9 minutes to upset Valencia in do-or-die Game 3, 58-63. Alberto Diez earned 2017 EuroCup Finals honors.
Unicaja is one of two teams to be down 1-0 in a best-of-three series and still win the title. In 2021, AS Monaco started the quarterfinals with a Game 1 home loss against Buducnost, 76-77. Monaco went on to win its next six playoff games, eliminating Buducnost with a 90-87 victory in Game 3, sweeping Gran Canaria in the semifinals and getting two narrow wins against UNICS in the Finals, 89-87 in Game 1 and 83-86 in Game 2. Marcos Knight was chosen as the 2021 EuroCup Finals MVP.
Another team will join this club upon the conclusion of the 2025 EuroCup Finals, as both Hapoel and Gran Canaria were down 1-0 in the semifinals against Valencia and Bahcesehir, respectively.