Gran Canaria Stuns Valencia at Spanish ACB

 The top-5 saw a shake-up in Spanish ACB after Round 21 action, further tightening up the race among the teams chasing after the leader, Real Madrid. Arguably the most important game of the round, Valencia Basket was stunned by Herbalife Gran Canaria which took advantage of its home-court edge to upset the former second-ranked team in the standings 87-78. After the loss, Valencia now joins Baskonia and Barcelona in a 3-way tie for second with identical 14-7 records. However, thanks to tiebreakers, Valencia falls to third, while Baskonia claims the second spot. Gran Canaria remains in fifth place with their 13-8 record. They are also in a 3-way tie of their own with Unicaja Malaga and Fuenlabrada.

Defense. Defense. Defense. That was the not-so-secret to Gran Canaria’s success in this game. They blocked four shots and swiped 11 steals in this game, stifling Valencia through the first three quarters. Valencia made a valiant push in the fourth and final frame, but it was not enough to surmount the lead that Gran Canaria set themselves up with.

Four of Gran Canaria’s players managed to score in double figures, led by the 15 points posted by Azejs Pasecniks, who also happened to account for half of his team’s blocks in this encounter. Only Rafael Martinez and Erick Green posted points in the double digits for Valencia with 14 and 12 points, respectively.