Barça did not have an easy mission, devastated by poor results, incapable of being happy even in favorable scenarios and more in need than ever of a victory. All of this in the midst of Jasikevicius’s return when the cheers for Mirotic still echoed in the Palau. The Barça team knew how to regroup and, this time, showed a hard-working and reliable version that, in addition, ran into a Fenerbahçe in very low hours, a combination that resulted in a more than restorative victory for Peñarroya and his team.
If there was, there was no tension in the Barcelona coliseum despite his team’s terrible streak of results. As happened with Mirotic, Jasikevicius’s entrance onto the court provoked a loud ovation for the Lithuanian but, as soon as the ball was in the air, the night regained an air of normality.
Fenerbahce
Barça realized that there can always be someone who is worse
On the hardwood, a concentrated and intense Barça could be seen, perhaps more aware than ever that walking along the ledge is never a good plan. Of course, this argument also accompanied the Milan film and so many other games, so no one trusted it. It was a clean first quarter for Peñarroya, finally backed by good defensive work, the kind that allows you to go around the continent with your head held high. They eliminated the Turkish team by 12 points and did not need fireworks to acquire their first advantages, such as the 18-10 (m9) that Parker added after a generous gift from Abrines.
If Barça had a chilling streak of five defeats in its last six games in the Euroleague, Fenerbahçe was not doing much better, with three out of four. And that was noticeable on the track, where Jasikevicius’s team had a hard time getting fuel. Just a few isolated triples and Hayes-Davis points allowed him to breathe something. The injury midway through the second quarter of one of their main offensive weapons, Baldwin IV, complicated things a little more and Barça took advantage of it to press the accelerator with a Justin Anderson more inspired than ever. The 38-26 that was drawn by a triple by Parker became the maximum of the first half, a difference that would widen in the last quarter.
Barça forced the Turks to exhaust their first possession without shooting, providing a great defense that gave a glimpse of what was coming for Saras and his team. Anderson’s third allowed Punter to take over the scoring. And, point by point, Barça forgot the fear of winning on other nights and began to finally cement a victory in Europe. Punter’s triples and Anderson’s dunks just blew things up and the smiles appeared again in the Palau. Barça breathes a little easier.
Technical sheet
90. Barça (20+24+21+25): Satoransky (5), Punter (25), Anderson (18), Parker (15), Vesely (2) -starting team-, Hernangómez (4), Núñez (4 ), Abrines (2), Brizuela (11), Parra (4) and Sarr (-).
63. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (12+25+16+10): Hall (9), Baldwin (4), Hayes-Davis (7), Colson (15), Birch (8) -starting team-, Guduric (3) , Melli (3), Biberovic (4), Sanli (2) and Mays (8).
Referees: Tomislav Hordov (CRO), Rein Peerandi (EST) and Steve Bittner (ALE). No eliminated.
Incidents: matchday 16 of the Euroleague played at the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona before 5,974 spectators. Before kickoff, a minute of silence was observed for the death of former basketball player Janis Timma.
#Barça #breathes #muchneeded #victory #weak #Fenerbahçe
