Dubai beat Partizan 99-93, take 1-0 lead in ABA League final
Dubai beat Partizan 99-93 in the opening game of the ABA League final at Coca-Cola Arena and lead the series 1-0, with Game 2 on Saturday in Dubai.
- Dubai beat Partizan 99-93 in the opening game of the ABA League final at Coca-Cola Arena.
- The hosts now lead the series 1-0, with the final played as a best-of-five.
- Partizan trimmed the deficit in the third quarter, but Dubai regained control down the stretch.
- Game 2 is on Saturday, June 6, again in Dubai, before the series moves to Belgrade on June 10.
The stands at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai rarely see basketball of this level, and on Wednesday night they were full for Game 1 of the ABA League final. Dubai, the higher seed from the regular season, opened the series at home and used that home-court edge all the way through. Partizan arrived as the challenger and threatened once during the game, but it was not enough.
The black and whites lost the opening game of the final 99-93. With the win Dubai took a 1-0 lead in the series, and since the final is a best-of-five, Partizan now faces a road job before it can take the series back to Belgrade.
How did Game 1 unfold?
Dubai controlled the tempo for most of the game and held the lead, leaning on its home-court advantage. Partizan got closest in the third quarter, when it cut the deficit and forced the hosts into a timeout, but the black and whites could not turn that stretch into a lead. Down the stretch Dubai regained control of the game and protected its margin to the final buzzer.
What is known so far about the opening game:
- final score of 99-93 for Dubai at Coca-Cola Arena
- Dubai took a 1-0 lead in the final series
- the hosts are the higher seed from the regular season and hold home-court advantage
- Partizan trimmed the gap in the third quarter, without a turnaround
According to early reports, Dubai’s top scorer was Musa, while for Partizan, as Telegraf notes, Carlik Jones and Sterling Brown were the most productive. Those individual lines come from a single source for now and should be treated with caution until confirmed by the official box score.
What does the loss mean for Partizan before Game 2?
A 1-0 lead in a best-of-five is far from decisive, but it means Partizan can no longer afford a second slip in Dubai. Game 2 is on Saturday, June 6, again at Coca-Cola Arena, and the black and whites must win it if they want to level the series before heading home.
If Partizan ties it at 1-1 on Saturday, the series moves to Belgrade, where Game 3 is set for June 10. Only then would the black and whites get their own crowd and their own floor, but until then they must survive another night in an arena where they have already faded late once.
Game 2 of the ABA League final is scheduled for Saturday, June 6, again in Dubai.
I think the key is not who scored a basket more in the opening game, but the fact that Partizan had its moment in the third quarter and did not seize it. Can the black and whites find a way to sustain that kind of run on Saturday, or will Dubai close out the win late once again?
