In Istanbul he fell Barça on Xavi’s debut Pascual and in Istanbul his streak since then was cut yesterday. The Blaugrana could not extend their good results (5 wins in Euroleague and 9 in total) and were beaten by a tight 72-71 due to an unfortunate finish.
Three free throws made by Wade Baldwin With 10 seconds left they tipped the balance without Kevin Punter could score on his last individual play at the buzzer. The 20 points of the Barça guard were not enough nor the 19 of a Brizuela excellent that at times gave control to the team. The free throws of Baldwin were generated with a controversial arbitration decision due to a lack of Cale 10 meters from the rim that would admit discussion about whether the local point guard’s shot was legitimate or manufactured.
Technical sheet
Fenerbahçe, 72 – Barça, 71
72 – Fenerbahçe Beko Estambul (17+18+18+19): Horton-Tucker (16), Hall (11), Melli (6), Biberovic (16), Birch (6) -initial team-, Boston (-), Bacot (-), Baldwin (16), Colson (2) and Birsen (-).
71 – Barça (13+20+19+19): Punter (20), Satoransky (-), Cale (4), Norris (11), Vesely (8) -initial team-, Brizuela (19), Parra (-), Hernangómez (4), Laprovittola (2) and Marcos (3).
Referees: Tomislav Hordov (CRO), Ioannis Foufis (GRE) and Luka Kardum (CRO). No eliminated. They signaled a technical foul against the local Birch (min.21).
Incidents: matchday 18 of the Euroleague played at the Ulker Sports and Event Hall in Istanbul.
The fact is that the Turks won the coin having done well in the first half and also thanks to their pace and defense.
The first baskets of a Punter released in his shots and the contribution of Cale y Norris allowed Barça to advance from the beginning (4-9) but the team Jasikevicius He didn’t take long to react, especially because of his control of the offensive rebound. The entry of Wade Baldwin also helped them to a greater extent than that of Laprovittola in the Barça. At the end of the first quarter it was 17-13 for the Turks.
The slow pace of the game was maintained in the second act, now with some more baskets from Punter y Laprovittola without things becoming equal. A Tarik emerged in the middle of the period Biberovic unstoppable in penetrations and mid-distance shooting to place the maximum advantage of his team until then (35-25). Barça’s reaction was overwhelming but totally led by Punter, who arrived at half-time with 16 points, almost half of the team (36-33).
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In the third quarter the defenses prevailed over the attacks without the differences fluctuating too much until Punter took a breath and Brizuela He saw that his time was coming. The scoring inspiration of the ‘Basque Mamba’ raised the tone of the Barça and broke the sluggishness of a game that seemed to be going at the pace that suited the locals. A triple of Dario and another of Norris They gave the warning but in the last quarter the San Sebastian player was unstoppable to put Barça ahead in several phases. Triples, suspensions and layups after Brizuela’s steal allowed the score to be 59-64, which made one think of the Blaugrana’s victory.
He Fenerbahcewho had had a miserable day in the triple, found fortune at the end with goals from Biberovic and Hall that led to an even finish (69-69). Two free throws vesely they advanced to Barça 23 seconds left but Baldwin made no mistake with the shots to seal it.
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