The first defense of first place and home court starts on Monday - basketball team Budućnost Volija, the best team in the league, will face well-known rival Red Star in the final of the AdmiralBet ABA League.
Both clubs easily overcame the quarterfinal hurdles (Megu and Igoke), so they will settle the semifinal clash in a maximum of three games, in which the "blue and white" will have home court advantage.
It's no news how important that advantage is in the regional competition, and when it comes to playoff duels with Red Star, Buducnost has historically not had much trouble "defending" Morača.
Since the 2014/15 season, when the ABA League introduced playoffs, the Podgorica and Belgrade clubs have played a total of eight playoff games at the M:tel "Morača" stadium, and the away team has won only once. And that was in the last match between these teams in the playoffs.
The first time in the playoffs, Buducnost and Red Star Belgrade met was in the 2016/17 season, in the semi-final duels, and the "blue and white" won in the second match of the series, which was played in our largest hall (63:57). However, the "red and white" won both matches in Belgrade and advanced to the final.
A year later, the same rivals met in the grand final - Buducnost, after a break in "Pionir", arrived in Podgorica with a 1:1 score, and then won both matches in Morača (78:77 and 77:73) and that April 2018 made history by winning the ABA League.
During the next two seasons that were played to completion (2019/20 was interrupted due to the coronavirus), the two great rivals met again in the finals. Buducnost then won all four matches in Podgorica, but lost all three in the Belgrade Masters.
The only defeat in the playoff clashes with the Belgrade rival, Buducnost, was in the last match played so far in the playoffs - two years ago, when Red Star was convincing in the semi-finals (97:56) and advanced to the finals with a 2:0 lead.
Now it's time for new derbies in the semifinals, and for Buducnost it will be most important to continue defending their fortress as they mostly did against Red Star.
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