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Kutxa looking for a win to get into the King's Cup, with a 0-5 away score

The match is hugely important for both teams, as they're direct competitors. The Basque team arrived from Belgrade, where Zvezda loaded them up with 90, and they allowed an average of 87 in the 5 away ACB matches

Beating Andorra 74-68 brought Murcia back on the winning path, from which they swerved against Euroleague giants Barcelona and Unicaja. With a 6-5 score, they are in a five team group fighting for two spots in the final King's Cup, and Laboral Kutxa are also there. This makes the match hugely important for both teams, as they're direct competitors, and the loser here will be in a much more difficult situation.

- Laboral Kutxa are a team in reconstruction, they've changed most of their roster and are looking for their identity. They're on the upswing right now, with spectacular shooting from the field. The fact they've won only five victories is more an anecdote- said the coach of Murcia, Diego Ocampo, about the rivals.

- We have a tough match coming up, and we need the support. To those who come to help us, I promise we'll try to play the best we have this year. We've been preparing in the best possible way and will fight for every possession.

Against Andorra last weekend Antel did great with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Cabezas brought to mind better days with 15 points and 6 assists. Although Bamforth had 1/8  and the team shot 6/26 for three points, defense carried the game. They never allowed more than 19 points per quarter. Cabezas had to play more due to Neto's injury (right shoulder). He missed a few practice sessions this week, but Ocampo expects him to play.

Of the five matches they played at home, they only lost to Unicaja (86-96), and beat Kutxa 89-90 there last season. In the past two season, none of their four duels went under 169 points. 

Compared to that, the following fact sounds almost unreal: Laboral Kutxa lost all five of their ACB away matches, never allowing less than 83 points. Their opponents score an unreal average of 87 points. With Ibono Navarro leading them, things have improved a bit but are still far from perfect in that segment. Last weekend they lost 85-70 at Valencia, then against 90-82 against Zvezda last weekend in Belgrade. We understand that Navarro struggles to put together a defense with Vujačić on court, and now James too, who is a pure shooting guard and only looking to score. Navarro shuffled the setup to the max in Belgrade, it was obvious the Murcia match was more important. Huertel played little, we will certainly see him in a more important role today.

- We'll try to rest a bit and be fit and ready for the match- said Navarro after arriving to Murcia yesterday.

- They're slowly improving, we faced them in preseason (73-64), and they're a team with very good defense, lots of activity and good defensive standard. I think they have three players capable of deciding the match and Lima or Antel who are very important rebounders.

Kutxa won that preseason match, but there is no point in mulling it over since they fired four players since, changed their coach and brought in James, Vujačić and Begić. Today's match marks the end of Begić's one month contract, and although there are no information on an extension, everyone seems to expect it to be confirmed, as Hamilton is still injured, and also linked to Galatasaray, while Begić has proven himself indispensable.