Valencia Basket, Joventut Badalona Open Liga Endesa Semifinal Series

The Liga Endesa semifinal series between Valencia Basket and Joventut Badalona tips off Wednesday at the Roig Arena, with Valencia holding the crucial home-court advantage. Valencia will host the first two games of the best-of-five series.

Valencia Basket enters the matchup fresh off a dominant 2-0 sweep of Surne Bilbao Basket in the quarterfinals. The team, led by coach Pedro Martínez, has recovered from the physical and psychological toll of reaching their first-ever Euroleague Final Four. This extended rest period gives them an edge over Joventut, who needed three games to defeat Kosner Baskonia in their quarterfinal series, which concluded on Sunday.

Joventut, coached by Dani Miret, arrives as the underdog, having pulled off a surprise victory against Baskonia. Despite the pressure of facing the favored Valencia, Joventut has shown resilience. The series history this season has favored the home team, with Valencia winning twice at home and Joventut once at their own arena in their previous three encounters.

Valencia has struggled at times to contain Joventut's key players, particularly Ricky Rubio's playmaking and Cameron Hunt's scoring, who was instrumental in the second quarterfinal game. Valencia will be without Xabi López-Arostegui and Josep Puerto due to injury. Joventut, meanwhile, continues to manage without Ante Tomic, relying on Yannis Morin and increased contributions from Simon Birgander, bolstered by the addition of Jabari Parker to their rotation.