Barça takes pride and is relieved with a long-suffering victory in Kaunas

On Tuesday they fell on the court of the last one, Alba Berlin (74-70), and this Friday they were very close to succumbing on the court of the penultimate, a Zalgiri I wanted to take advantage of thes doubts of Barça but ended up succumbing to the Catalans in Kaunas (80-85). The excellent external success of the first half and the substantial defensive improvement of the second they ended up supporting the team Roger Grimau.

The Catalan coach was puffing at the end of the game after adding a balsamic victory which allows you to face the holidays more calmly. It wasn’t long before Barça suffered its fourth defeat in five games, but the Zalgiris were upset in a disastrous last quarter (they only scored 7 points in those last 10 minutes) and the azulgranas pulled job to seal the victory, with Laprovittola (18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) and Vesely (15 points, 22 rating) as references.

11-0 partial

“He character of my players has been the key to winning. We are a team, sometimes some shine, sometimes others, the important thing is that we move forward with the game. Now we want to rest and enjoy the victory on this great field,” reflected a Grimau relieved. The coach needed this result, as he was suffering the worst streak since he came to the Barça bench. With the team in fourth place in the ACB and very far from Madrid in the Euroleague, it was vital to win in Kaunas to escape the jam.

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— Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) December 22, 2023

Grimau asked to “return to the basics” to get out of the tunnel, but Barça once again showed too much irregular, as capable of linking excellent offensive streaks as of catapulting an opponent located in the lower zone. The start of the clash, with a dunk vesely and a triple Kalinicit looked good, but soon a partial 11-0 of the Lithuanians, commanded by the ex-Azulgrana Roland Smits. The bleeding caused the first Barça timeout (11-2, min. 4). That break worked and Barça took the lead in the first set (22-28).

Triples Festival

The Barça team again conceded a lethal partial, a 15-2 lead that once again led Grimau to stop the game (37-30, m. 13). The crash came into exchange of blows in which Barça came out well. The Blaugranas were five up at half-time (51-56) thanks to the success of the trident formed by Vesely, Kalinic and Laprovittola, with 12 points each, including the four triples made by the Balkan forward and the Argentine point guard.

James Nnaji goes HIGH to finish the Alley-Oop! #FlightTime I @TurkishAirlines pic.twitter.com/6XaSJPqsDW

— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) December 22, 2023

The tie was maintained in the third quarter, but Barça reduced its success percentage and Zalgiris faced the final quarter ahead (73-70). The pivot Laurynas Birutisformer Obradoiro player, was a ram for the Catalan bloc, which trusted in the emergence of its stars to end up unevenling the pulse (75-75, min. 34).

Lithuanian short circuit

Brizuela He gave Barça air with five points in a row and the duel entered the last corner with absolutely even forces. He incredible 10 of 14 in triples for Barça of the first part gave way to a 2 of 16 in the second, a mutation with Kalinic as the clear negative protagonist.

That blackout He was close to condemning the Blaugranas, but his rival was even worse. He short circuit Lithuanian, also caused by the good Barça defense and their strength on the rebound, facilitated Barça’s victory, crowned with the free throws by Laprovittola and Satoransky.

2023-12-22 20:41:46
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