Season opener at Roig Arena ends in defeat against iLERNA Lleida (100-105)

ValenciaBasket was unable to kick off its season at the Roig Arena with a win, fallingto iLERNA Lleida 100–105. It was a high-paced game marked by alternatingscoring runs; the home team failed to capitalize on its strong spells to pullaway and could not contain its opponent's offense during its own struggles.Despite tying the game with three minutes remaining—led by TJ Shorts—theCatalan side executed better in the closing stages to secure its first victoryin Valencia.

Xavi Albert’s Comments

 “Right from the start, our level of play was far from where we want to be—whether at home or away, but especially at home. We came out soft; we found ourselves trailing early due to certain situations and had a bad feeling about the game. Hopefully, this serves as a major lesson for the future regarding the effort this league demands every weekend. If you don’t come out at 100%—if you don’t bring the necessary energy, as happened in the first half—you suffer in many areas: we lost control of the boards and couldn't contain their primary ball-handlers in simple one-on-one situations. It seemed like we were settling into the game, but we were very inconsistent. This loss exposes our shortcomings; we won’t resort to asking for more time—every team has to show its best version—so we’re turning our focus to Tuesday right now.”