Of the four games that Barça had left to close the regular season, the one in Partizán was the most complicated on paper. And against a team on the rise, in a hostile environment, the Catalans added a key victory that leaves them on a silver platter to be seeded and, therefore, have the field factor in their favor in the quarterfinal tie. Another very good performance from Mirotic and Vesely, not bad from Satoransky and Abrines and joined by Laprovittola. The Argentine, after a few more discreet weeks, against the Serbs was again the one from the beginning of the season. The excellent defense, especially in the second half, was also a decisive element in the victory.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the atmosphere in Belgrade’s Stark Arena is the best in the EuroLeague. 20,041 people, a competition record, who celebrated each robbery, each assist and each triple as if it were a decisive basket. An audience that gave wings to Partizán, equaling the good start of Barça. After Laprovittola’s two initial three-pointers, excellent news for the Catalans more for the sensations than for the points, the Serbs stood up with a leading Punter and an intimidating Lessort. The inaccuracies of the Serbs and the fluidity of Barça kept them ahead (21-25), but from the beginning it was sensed that it would be a very competitive game. Barça’s interiors, strong in defense and skilful in attack, were decisive in the first quarter.
If the man in the first quarter was Laprovittola, the man in the second was Exum. The ex of the Barça caused a lot of problems to Higgins, his defender, and therefore to all the Barcelona. He gave Partizán the first lead (29-27), which continued to expand in the first five minutes of the quarter. With his classic penetrations, but also with two triples on the boat. Barça had a hard time, with too many losses and being unable to overcome the local defense. Jasikevicius stopped it at the risk that the Serbs would break the game. However, the visitors recovered before the break. With the headlines back on track and, curiously, with Lapro as a base. The Argentine added 14 points before the break, 10 Exum, for the 45-44 with which they reached the middle of the match.
It’s been a few games since Abrines has won the game in the starting five against Kalinic and at the start of the third quarter he showed why. A three-pointer, a key rebound and the ability to punt every shot provided Barça’s biggest advantage so far (47-55). Vesely propped her up. With his mid-range shots or his one-handed dunks, but also with that special connection he has with Satoransky. A ‘Sato’ who is one of the best triple shooters in the competition when standing. If we add to this more activity from Mirotic, the Barça advantage skyrocketed (49-61).
However, not everything was good news for Barça. Some arbitration decisions fired up the public, some object fell on the track, Barça defended the direct blocks badly and Higgins’ minutes didn’t add up. The North American seems different after his physical problems, although Jasikevicius’ confidence in him seems unshakable (58-66).
With about 15 minutes to go, Partizán raised the physical bar. Harder, more protests and more points. Higgins continued to play a disastrous match, with a PIR of minus three in 15 minutes, and If it hadn’t been for Mirotic’s three-pointers, Barça would have lost the advantage. But they entered, also one far from Laprovittola, reaching the last three minutes with the game in their hands (70-78). And it is that Exum is very good, he has a splendid scoring ability, but he is not LeBron James either. Penetrations from him were pretty much all Partizan had to offer in attack. An excess of individualism that was not effective in the final stretch.
2
Zach LeDay
|
26
Mathias Lessort
|
7
kevin pointer
|
twenty-one
James Nunnally
|
41
Yam Madar
|
eleven
Dante Liman Exum
|
10
Ioannis Papapetrou
|
4
Alexa Avramovic
|
9
Alen Smailagic
|
32
urostrifunovic
|
33
Danilo Andjusic
|
1
Tristan Vukcevic
|
Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2
Zach LeDay
|
33 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2/2 | 4/8 | 0/1 | 2 | 2 | 12 | |
26
Mathias Lessort
|
29 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 23 | 0/0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | |
7
kevin pointer
|
26 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3/3 | 5/11 | 1/6 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
twenty-one
James Nunnally
|
14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
41
Yam Madar
|
13 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 3/6 | 0/0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
eleven
Dante Liman Exum
|
26 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7/8 | 4/6 | 3/5 | 8 | 2 | 25 | |
10
Ioannis Papapetrou
|
19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
4
Alexa Avramovic
|
16 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 3/4 | 0/1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
9
Alen Smailagic
|
eleven | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
32
urostrifunovic
|
4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
33
Danilo Andjusic
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
1
Tristan Vukcevic
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
twenty
Nicholas Laprovittola
|
33
Nikola Mirotic
|
twenty-one
Alex Abrines
|
6
Jan Veseley
|
13
Thomas Satoransky
|
5
Sertac Sanli
|
22
Cory Higgins
|
10
Nikola Kalinic
|
31
Rokas Jokubaitis
|
23
Mike Toby
|
1
oscar da silva
|
24
Kyle Kuric
|
Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
twenty
Nicholas Laprovittola
|
32 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11/13 | 1/2 | 4/5 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
33
Nikola Mirotic
|
30 | 19 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5/6 | 4/5 | 2/4 | 7 | 3 | 27 | |
twenty-one
Alex Abrines
|
24 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
6
Jan Veseley
|
24 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 7/10 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 16 | |
13
Thomas Satoransky
|
twenty | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 2/5 | 2/2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
5
Sertac Sanli
|
fifteen | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
22
Cory Higgins
|
fifteen | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 1/3 | 1 | 3 | -3 | |
10
Nikola Kalinic
|
14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | |
31
Rokas Jokubaitis
|
9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
23
Mike Toby
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
1
oscar da silva
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | |
24
Kyle Kuric
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |