A Valencia with many lives demanded the best version of Barça, who had to win the game several times to be able to win an important emotional victory. The Blaugranas wanted to get rid of the bad feelings after the defeat against Paris, and they achieved it thanks to a game with great scoring rhythm and which was decided by Kevin Punter (24 points), colossal from the triple. Barça felt superior on several occasions, and they were overconfident at many times. And in the end, Valencia pushed the score to the point where they feared a Barça victory.
The Peñarolla team started like a cyclone. Passing speed, good shot selection and great interior defense. The blaugranas showed off on both sides of the court and up to seven players scored in that first set, in which they had leads of 13 points. The dizzying pace of the attack did not slow down in the second quarter, but in the third quarter it relaxed and Valencia got into the game (71-67). Between Punter, Parker and Anderson they returned the ten lead. But this Valencia never gave up and after a tireless exchange of triples, in the last play they had the ball to force overtime at the Palau (102-99).
Defeats for Hiopos Lleida and Bàsquet Girona and important victory for Joventut
For its part, a partial score of 2-12 in the final stretch of the third quarter decided the victory for Joventut, which was always ahead on the scoreboard in its duel against Bilbao Basket (79-95). The victory allows Dani Miret’s men to move away from the danger zone.
Despite the numerous casualties, Bàsquet Girona put Gran Canaria on the ropes until the final moments (89-84). Three triples by Nico Brussino in the last minute of the match allowed the locals to rescue the victory.
Hiopos Lleida wasted Real Madrid’s overconfidence and ended up suffering another defeat (85-78). The inspiration of the Catalan team in the third quarter, they came to endorse a partial of 2-19 to the whites, forcing the current champion to make an extra effort at the end that they did not count on
#Punter #ends #Valencias #resistance
