FC Porto beat Sporting (94-86) and set up final with Benfica | OneFootball

FC Porto won the fourth game of the basketball championship semi-final against Sporting, 94-86, and secured a place in the final, where they will face Benfica, also in a best-of-five series.

The Dragons came flying out of the blocks and kept adding points, taking advantage of Sporting’s offensive inefficiency. The Lions got themselves organized and improved defensively, but the home side continued to shoot accurately. Beran, with several three-pointers, helped the blue and whites build a 14-point lead by the end of the first quarter (30-16).

In the second quarter, Sporting managed to level things out and found their shooting touch on offense. Luís Magalhães’ team put in a strong display and cut the deficit, which had reached 20 points, to ten by halftime (57-47).

But while FC Porto had started the first half well, Sporting responded in kind at the start of the second. An excellent third quarter allowed the Lions to cut the deficit and they even drew level when the clock showed seven minutes played (70-70). The Dragons’ poor spell forced Fernando Sá to call a timeout to reorganize his troops, who, still struggling, reached the final quarter with a lead of just one point (76-75).

In the fourth and final quarter, Sporting came out fired up and took the lead for the first time in the game (76-78). As time went on, FC Porto managed to withstand the Lions’ attacks and do damage on the fast break. Despite their poor start to the second half, the home side managed to come out on top and win the game.

With this result, FC Porto won the semi-final series (3-1) and qualified for the basketball championship final where, it should be remembered, they will contest the title against four-time champions Benfica.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.