Barça has displayed solidity to prevail on the Cazoo Baskonia court by 84-91 in a sensational match by Alex Abrines with 18 points and 6/8 in triples to ensure the first position of the regular phase of the Endesa League just five days before the Euroleague semifinals against Real Madrid in the Final Four in Kaunas.
After Real Madrid’s bulky morning victory on the Gran Canaria track (67-95), the winner would come out as the leader of the Buesa Arena with the addition that in the event of a Barca success this battle for the court advantage in all the qualifiers for the title would already be closedto. In any case, the company seemed very complicated on a track in which the locals had only lost once, on the third day against Lenovo Tenerife.
The first quarter was extremely even, with the visiting physical superiority and greater local success. Without the injured Higgins, Vesely or Kalinic, the great Barça star Nikola Mirotic became Barça’s benchmark in the first quarter with nine points. Of course, he did not collaborate with rebounds to the clear Barcelona domain in this section (seven to three in the first 10 minutes).
Seven points from the Spanish-Montenegrin were the answer to Marinkovic’s two triples to give Saras’ men their first notable lead (12-16, min. 5:50). The bad news was that Darius Thompson, one of those desired by Madrid, also had the day and led the local reaction with a triple and a slam, although there the good entry into the match of Jokubaitis and Tobey allowed the current runner-up in the league to go up in the first quarter (21-24).
And that the success rates of a local team that plays more comfortable when more runs were spectacular. Cazoo Baskonia only missed six shots in the entire first quarter that closed with 4/6 in 2-pointers, 4/7 in triples and 1/2 in free throws. The rhythm was more to the taste of the Baskonia.
The second quarter offered those two faces so inexplicably opposed to those that Barça is so used to its fans, although little by little it is coming out before those bad moments. Saras’ men attacked judiciously and defended hard to go away by seven points after two three-pointers followed by a Kyle Kuric whose success could be key in the Final Four (27-34, min. 13:12).
From then on, the Catalan team found themselves surpassed at the level of intensity by the locals and disappeared for the next four minutes, in which they did not score a single point and conceded a painful 11-0 that turned the score around as if from a sock was treated (38-34, min. 17:00). So much so that Jasikevicius did not spare anyone and replaced his five court players with a special mention for a very erratic Oscar da Silva.
At least, Barça managed to recover their vital signs with two triples by Àlex Abrines and two free throws by Mirotic to balance the score at halftime (45-45). Without Vesely still focused on getting back in time for the Final Four, fouls were a serious problem as Tobey had four and both Sanli and Nnaji had two.
In that continuous Ying and Yang, the azulgranas marveled in an almost perfect third quarter in attack with 7/9 in shots from two, 4/7 in three-pointers and 2/4 free throws (they were followed by Lapro for a foul when he was shooting from three and a technique to Peñarroya). And that Baskonia kept up the pulse with Marinkovic ‘on fire’ until 59-60 (min. 24:50).
There an Abrines re-emerged in a state of grace with another two triples and five of six attempts already. The local team could not interpret those indirect blocks from which the Balearic Islands extracted oil and a brilliant Laprovittola took care of the rest with the help of a Da Silva eager to vindicate himself (64-73 at the end of the third quarter).
Barça suffered a lot from the local intensity and the good work of Kotsar in the paint, taking advantage of his rival’s foul problems, but they maintained their lead first with a key three-pointer from Sanli (he committed the fourth in a row) and a spectacular two plus one from Laprovittola that made it 74-82 at 5:07 from the end of the game.
Barça had several options to close the game, including a frontal three-pointer from Abrines that this time missed the ring. In addition, he did not defend penetrations well and all this led to a disturbing 84-88 and a ball from Vitoria with 44.1 seconds to go. And Baskonia had options with a triple by Hommes that did not enter. And the two free throws that Howard missed were the finishing touch. In the end, 84-91 and a great victory that is worth first place.
2023-05-14 19:08:00
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