BarcelonaSame setting and protagonists, different script. Twenty days after losing to Baskonia at the Palau Blaugrana, Barça scored revenge against the Basque team (91-68). With the lesson learned, the Blaugrana team dominated the game with concentration from the first minutes. Jan Vesely (17 points, 10 rebounds and 3/3 in triples) and Kevin Punter (15 points and 4 assists) were the best local players in a more comfortable night than everyone had imagined.
Joan Peñarroya left Willy Hernangómez out of the call to incorporate Joel Parra. The coach made up for his absence by using Chimezie Metu as cinco and giving minutes to Youssoupha Fall. BJ Armstrong, three-time NBA champion with Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and Kyle Korver, another former player who now works for the Atlanta Hawks, did not miss the culé triumph.
Barça’s first five minutes were very good. The Barça team imposed its pace and its aim to open a gap in the scoreboard (15-2). Baskonia’s defense, which only committed six personal fouls in 20 minutes, facilitated ball mobility for a culé team that kept the difference stable (44-33).
The third half was less brilliant, but Barça knew how to keep its scoring stable and reached the last ten minutes with an eleven-point lead (62-51). As if it were coached by Hansi Flick, the Barça team staged a new acceleration that left the rival offside. The difference grew to over 20 points and the game was sealed, since the rival traveled to Barcelona with little desire to make an effort on defense and too many turnovers.
Madrid, in crisis
Real Madrid lost on Thursday against EA7 Armani in Milan and has accumulated five defeats in eight games. If the regular season ended now, the white team would be left out of both the play-off as of play-in. “It wasn’t the best defensive game we could have played. We probably didn’t have full energy and, from the beginning, we saw that the legs were not moving as quickly as the game,” analyzed Chus Mateo.
