Barça had no problem getting rid of Asvel (84-71), a team that was never in a position to fight the Palau match. More tired (they played on Tuesday) and with less staff, quality and level, the match was an ordeal for the French. The Barça played 40 minutes to pleasure, without having to force the machine at any time and with an overwhelming individual superiority. If they had wanted, the difference would have been even greater.
Barça’s placid victory had many names of its own, but it was based on the outside shot. Asvel neither shoots nor hits from the outside, while Barça is very comfortable playing outside. The first visiting triple was scored near the break while the azulgrana remained above 40 percent success with Mirotic and Laprovittola as protagonists. The Argentine, in a very good start sharing the track with Calathes, gave his team the first advantage.
It’s not that Asvel had poor outside shooting percentages, which they did too, but simply that they are committed to playing more inside, with men of the size and strength of Fall and Antetokounmpo. They tried to take advantage of Sanli’s loss, but between Nnaji, Davies and even Smits they were in charge of keeping them at bay. Fall’s good numbers never translated into any significant advantage for his team.
Jokubaitis and Laprovittola
The difference in favor of Barça began to grow with Jokubaitis on court in the second quarter, being the absolute dominator of the match. The feeling was that Barça did not play to the maximum of their possibilities, nor did they need to, but the Lithuanian did. He attacked with precision and found easy penetrations, while being very incisive on defense. A few minutes of great value that catapulted his team, which at halftime was already winning comfortably (45-30). Okobo’s points mitigated the visiting disaster.
Barça lacked intensity to sentence the game earlier, because simply playing at half throttle kept Asvel at bay. The French, very bad in defense, gave the azulgranas a great advantage. For not doing they did not even make mistakes. Laprovittola’s minutes, magnificent in the game and in the shot, continued to influence the clash (68-45).
The last quarter was a succession of attacks against already very weak defenses. Barça didn’t mind fitting in as they scored very easily and Jasikevicius took the opportunity to distribute minutes among his squad.