Not even the environment. Not even arbitration. Not even your own mistakes. Not even Obradovic’s magic. Nothing could beat Barça, who left Belgrade as the leader of the Euroleague after signing a prestigious victory, which tasted even better for everything they had to suffer. And that, midway through the third quarter, the score at 40-63 suggested that the duel was over. But if against Red Star he had to resort to extra time, against Partizan he turned to Abrines, who scored a triple and captured a rebound in the middle of the local comeback that sealed the victory for the Blaugrana, who once again emerged victorious from the Stark Arena.
The afternoon began with a nice tribute to Kevin Punter, who has a place reserved in the hearts of black fans, and continued with a more than good staging by Obradovic’s team, as if they wanted to extend the party. The pavilion roared to the tune that Carlik Jones set for it. Barça was confused, and seemed not to know much about the film. I saw the square ring, too. So almost without realizing it, he found himself down 21-11 (m7) after a basket from Jones, of course. But with a couple of good defenses and adjusting their wrist a bit, including a triple from Punter – their only basket in play in the entire first half – the Blaugranas were able to stop the bleeding. It seemed like Partizan had nailed it but the scoreboard read 23-19, which was great news for those from Peñarroya.
A triple and a rebound from Abrines in the middle of the Serbian comeback were key to the Barça victory
Everything changed in the second quarter, in which Barça showed off some of their best basketball minutes of the entire season, an act that ended with an impressive 12-30 that allowed them to go into halftime with a large lead. Quickly, a 2 plus 1 from Vesely gave him the advantage and then it was Jabari Parker’s triples and Metu’s dunks that began to destroy the scoreboard, drawing a 0-13 partial that left Obradovic without answers. Brizuela’s last basket before heading to the locker room marked the maximum (35-49).
No minutes
Willy Hernangómez was the only Barça player who did not take to the court
The Barça recital lasted for a few minutes. Parker scored 40-63 (m26), a basket after which a few ended the duel. Big mistake, because nothing is easy in Belgrade, where, whether legal or illegal, anything can happen. Barça had quickly entered the bonus and the free kicks allowed Partizan to take out the scissors and start cutting back. It was very difficult for Barça to score and, suddenly, a torrent of triples fell on them. The score was getting tighter and Barça became dizzy. Three free throws by Lundberg caused more than one coronary episode (79-80) with 100 seconds remaining. There, Abrines, the captain, emerged to score a triple and grab a rebound, which led (by surprise) to an almost peaceful final minute for his team and a more than deserved victory.
Technical sheet
79 – Partizan Mozzart Bet (23+12+23+21): Carlik Jones (17), Bosnjakovic (6), Brown (10), Bonga (8), Tyrique Jones (6) -starting five- Lundberg (5), Davies (5), Ntilikina (3), Pokusevski (12) and Washington (7).
87 – Barça (19+30+21+17): Satoransky (2), Punter (18), Abrines (9), Parker (17), Vesely (12) -starting five-, Fall (4), Núñez (4 ), Anderson (7), Metu (10), Brizuela (4) and Parra (0).
Referees: Emin Mogulkoc (TUR), Seffi Shemmesh (ISR) and Kristaps Konstantinovs (LET). No eliminated.
Incidents: Match on matchday 9 of the regular phase of the Euroleague played at the Belgrade Arena (Serbia) in front of 20,112 spectators.
#Barça #subscribes #suffering #happy #Belgrade
