Barcelona resurfaced against Baskonia (89-72) and added their first ACB win of the season. Without Mirotic, injured and without a date to return, and after failing in the Super Cup against Madrid and starting the regular season with a loss to Gran Canaria, Jasikevicius’ men found their way thanks to a second half in which they ate up their rivals she has dominated so far.
The Azulgrana were at the mercy of Baskonia in the first half. The defense was leaking everywhere and Peñarroya’s side went over 50 points at the break (39-51). In attack, the outside game yielded no results with a 2/8 in threes, while Baskonia found the basket from all positions. Vesely couldn’t hold the team and Baskonia enjoyed watching his rival show no sign of a reaction. Seeing his team fail again, Jasikevicius reassured his team with the half-time call, in which he insisted on increasing defensive intensity.
Said and done. As if it were another team, the Blaugrana came out with two more marches and Baskonia couldn’t react to the avalanche. Abrines and Vesely leveled the game (51-51) with a 12-0 run in four minutes and the defense again showed iron security. Baskonia didn’t recover from the restart and the game took on a more comfortable rhythm for Barça, who now found the spaces to work and the defense worked like a charm.
Hammer by hammer they shattered Baskonia’s confidence. The third quarter ended with a devastating 26-7 for Barça that extended the military march to the final act in which they also featured Vitoria’s team (24-16), who went from a 12 win to a 20 deficit Ease defeated only 21 points in the second half. Vesely finished the game as the top scorer (15 points), Satoransky offered a good version in the second half (five assists and two goals) and Abrines shone from the perimeter (13 points with three from seven on three). The new helmsmen are responsible for keeping the culé boat afloat until Mirotic returns.
Madrid and Valencia remain undefeated
Barça, who will make their Euroleague debut against Olympiakos on Friday, follows the unbeaten: Lenovo Tenerife, Río Breogán, Bilbao Basket, Real Madrid and Valencia. Chus Mateo’s men added their second win of the morning in their game against Monbus Obradoiro. Madrid, with another great performance from Musa (22 points and four rebounds), overtook their rival from the start of the game and signed their first win of the season (93-79) at the Wizink Center, which paid tribute to Pablo Laso.
Later, Valencia defeated Joventut in a crazy overtime game (101-97). In the game that saw Valencia withdraw 17 from Taronja legend Rafa Martínez, Alex Mumbrú’s men flexed their muscles to claim a hard-fought and long-suffering victory. Harper (24 points) and Guy (27) fought an intense field duel that resulted in six bingos each. In the end it was Valencia who dealt the final blow in an overtime forced by a Dubljevic basket at the last second.
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