Zvezda vs. Budućnost - The big rivalry gets a new chapter in the 2021 ABA League Finals
The 2021 ABA League Finals starts this weekend as Crvena zvezda mts are about to host Budućnost VOLI on Sunday evening in Game 1.
Nikola Ivanovic (Photo: Crvena zvezda mts)
2021 ABA League Finals, Game 1, Sunday, 16 May 2021:
CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS - BUDUĆNOST VOLI
Where? Aleksandar Nikolić Sports Hall, Belgrade
When? 18:30
Game recap: The 2021 ABA League Finals starts this weekend as Crvena zvezda mts are about to host Budućnost VOLI on Sunday evening in Game 1.
This will be the 3rd consecutive time that Crvena zvezda mts and Budućnost VOLI will face each other in the ABA League Finals. Recall that the Budućnost VOLI won the battle in 2018 as they clinched the regional trophy by winning the final series - 3-1, while one year later Crvena zvezda mts prevailed in the first ever 5-game ABA League Finals to take the 2019 title – 3-2.
Now, the big rivalry will get a new chapter as these two teams will be fighting for the 2021 championship title.
Crvena zvezda mts will have a home-court advantage in this series which is certainly a huge thing for the red-and-whites as we all know how good they are when playing in Belgrade. After all, they qualified for the 2021 ABA League Finals after winning both games at home court in the semi-final series vs. Igokea.
On the other side, Budućnost VOLI have to win at least one game on the road in order to take the title and they will try to do that already in the opening two games that will be played in Belgrade on May 16 and May 18, respectively. It is important to mention that Budućnost VOLI have won the previous two games that they played against Crvena zvezda mts in Belgrade.
The 2021 ABA League Finals will be played in the best-of-5 format, which means that the first team who score 3 wins will be crowned as the 2020/2021 ABA League champions.
Take a look at the full schedule of the 2021 ABA League Finals HERE.
Match-up in focus: There are many match-ups that may decide the winner of this series, still all the eyes will be pointed on the duel between Jordan Loyd (Crvena zvezda mts) and Justin Cobbs (Budućnost VOLI), simply because that they are the best scorers of their teams. Loyd and Cobbs are actually among the top 10 scorers of the entire 2020/21 ABA League season as Cobbs holds the 5h place on that list, while Loyd is placed at the 7th position. Therefore, a lot of things in this series will depend on the current form of these two top-class scorers.
Head to head in the regional league: In total 23:23; In Belgrade 19:5.
