Unexpected Ostrava leader Svoboda sent the defenders of the trophy to the edge of the abyss. We have to win the series, he said

He made his mark in the fate of the third match in an unusual way. After the referee’s mistake, he did not leave the scoreboard for the second unsportsmanlike foul, which means automatic exclusion, and with a three-pointer at the end of the match, he helped to the second victory over Opava 77:70.

And his signature is also noticeable under Ostrava’s third win in the series. The NH Ostrava winger ended the eleven-point chase with a long three over Luďek Jurečka, tied the game at 87:87 and sent the game into overtime. In it, the home team completed the turnaround in front of a sold-out Tatran hall and won 100:93.

“We had something different drawn after the time out, but it ended up like this. I had no choice but to shoot, because there were maybe three seconds until the horn sounded. But it worked out perfectly. We were able to reduce Opava’s lead, in overtime we were already on the horse and we took care of it,” Svoboda described the dramatic last seconds of the fourth quarter.

After the transfer from Pardubice, the 24-year-old pupil of České Budějovice quickly became the leader of the team in Ostrava, which for the first time since 2013 (NH Ostrava then won the bronze) is knocking on the gates of the semi-finals.

“We are in a situation that none of us have been in before, but we must not think that it is over. It will be hard work again in Opava. But if we play like the last three games, then we have to win the series,” confided Michal Svoboda, who contributed 21 points to the third victory over Opava.

Ostrava, led by coach Adam Choleva, would write another chapter in the 70-year history of the only team that has not yet been relegated from the highest basketball competition in the Czech Republic by advancing over a traditional rival.

“We have a bit of a cushion, but we mustn’t think about it. On the contrary, we have to approach the next match with the same aggressiveness, because this game is paying off for us. We are younger, we grabbed it, but the luckier team won that fourth game. Nothing easy awaits us in Opava (on Friday, April 26 from 6 p.m.),” said Choleva.

The reigning Czech champions will be averting the end of the season at a stage when they were not used to going on holiday. “We dug a hole into which we fell. But this team has character. We haven’t said the last word yet, we will return to Ostrava,” Opava coach Petr Czudek promised the fans.