Battle for the Playoffs – Cibona vs. Split

Thursday, 09. February 2023 at 12:27

At the start of the season, these two teams weren’t the main favorites for reaching the Playoffs. However, after some excellent results, both Cibona and Split now have a chance to finish the regular season among the top 8 teams on the standings.

Dominik Mavra (Photo: Split/Ivica Cavka)

AdmiralBet ABA League Round 19, Friday, 10 February 2023:

CIBONA - SPLIT

Where? Dražen Petrović Sports Hall, Zagreb

When? 20:00

Story of the game: At the start of the season, these two teams weren’t the main favorites for reaching the Playoffs. However, after some excellent results, both Cibona and Split now have a chance to finish the regular season among the top 8 teams on the standings.

The two big rivals have the same overall score (7-11) and they are sharing the 8th place on the table together with Mega MIS. That tells you enough how important this match is for both sides.

Cibona scored a huge win against Borac in the previous round and they did it after the most unbelievable game-ending in this season in which Sven Smajlagić hit the game-winning 2-pointer in the last second of the 4th quarter. The Wolves will now try to use the good momentum and seize another important win that would significantly improve their chances of reaching the Playoffs.

On the other side, Split are in very good form. The Yellow troops scored two wins in a row, while both of them came after thrilling endings, which means that they are coming to Zagreb full of confidence that they can extend their winning streak.

Split weren’t really successful in their past duels against Cibona in the regional league as the overall head-to-head score is 15:6 for the Zagreb side. However, it is worth mentioning that Split won 4 out of the last 5 games against Cibona in the AdmiralBet ABA League.

Match-up in focus: Borna Kapusta (Cibona) vs. Dominik Mavra (Split).

Many things in each team depend on their star point guards and we can say that both Kapusta and Mavra are having an exceptional season so far.

While Kapusta is the league’s 6th best passer with 6.3 assists per game, Mavra is at the 2nd place on this list with 6.8 assists per game.

Kapusta is the 4th best scorer of Cibona with 9.9 points per game, while Mavra is the 2nd best scorer of Split and 8th best scorer of the season with 16.4 points per game.

Head-to-head score in the regional league: In total 15:6; In Zagreb 8:2.

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