Much was said in the Barça-Baskonia preview of the Barça defense and the Baskonia attack. The two pillars of both teams. If the game went to a high score, those from Vitoria had to win, if the score was short, the Catalans. But in the end neither one thing nor the other. The game was an exchange of blows, the majority from the triple, for three quarters. Spectacular Howard, with impossible shots, and good for Barça as a whole. The attacks commanded for 30 minutes. But the last quarter came and something changed. Two men, Vesely and Higgins, decided the party. The first with an excellent defense, intimidating shots and grabbing rebounds. The second, deciding all the Barca attacks. Three triples, free throws, good decisions… he did everything well in the last ten minutes.
That in the duel between Barça and Baskonia the triples were going to abound was not a very risky bet, but it is that the first nine shots of the game were from 6’75. Three minutes where only triples were shot, despite Satoransky’s cuts down the baseline. A dynamic that lasted, with a better aim from Barça at the beginning and Baskonista towards the end of the fourth. With practically no fouls or contact actions, no one posted, it was a duel of attacks. Exactly what Baskonia wanted. Kalinic (7 points) was the top scorer in a quarter in which they both shot 18 three-pointers (22-22).
Barça exploited the Jokubaitis-Vesely connection, with the Lithuanian monopolizing the team’s attacking game. Baskonia continued to do his thing, with an outside shot and without taking offensive rebounds. Vesely protected them well and gave Barça more options in attack (35-27). Costello kept his team within an acceptable deficit with five consecutive points, but Da Silva (with two 3-pointers and a block) stopped them.
The match remained very even, between triples and shots from two, with high efficiency from both teams. Little defense, a lot of shooting, to the despair of Jasikevicius. He said in the preview that they couldn’t concede 51 points in one half (it happened in the Endesa League). They conceded 48, largely thanks to Howard’s accuracy. The good news is that they scored more (52-48). And with only three points from Laprovittola.
The defenses continued without appearing in the third quarter, especially on the Barça side, as Baskonia did show one more point of intensity in pressing and rebounding. The score continued to rise at a high rate (65-64), with quick possessions, without either team distancing themselves in the electronic. not even with the appearance of Laprovittola, offset by Howard’s excellent game (76-73).
Barça achieved a small advantage with five to go that Higgins increased with two three-pointers (90-80). But if Barça ended up winning the game, it wasn’t just because of the North American’s excellent quarter, but because they improved in defence. Vesely was immense in this facet. The azulgranas ended Baskonia’s scoring streak, controlled Howard and scored at key moments. A deserved victory because they matched Baskonia for three quarters and improved at the end, although the score ended up being, perhaps, too big.
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twenty Nicholas Laprovittola |
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10 Nikola Kalinic |
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13 Thomas Satoransky |
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23 Mike Toby |
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5 Sertac Sanli |
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6 Jan Veseley |
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1 oscar da silva |
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twenty-one Alex Abrines |
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22 Cory Higgins |
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31 Rokas Jokubaitis |
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46 james naji |
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24 Kyle Kuric |
| Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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twenty Nicholas Laprovittola | 28 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3/5 | 1 | 4 | eleven | |
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10 Nikola Kalinic | 26 | 7 | two | 0 | two | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2/2 | 1/2 | 1/1 | 3 | two | 12 | |
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13 Thomas Satoransky | 24 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3/4 | 2/2 | 0/2 | 5 | 0 | fifteen | |
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23 Mike Toby | 12 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 3/4 | 1/2 | 1 | 0 | eleven | |
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5 Sertac Sanli | eleven | 8 | two | 1 | 1 | two | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/3 | 2/4 | 0 | 3 | two | |
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6 Jan Veseley | 24 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | two | 0 | 6/7 | 6/9 | 0/0 | 6 | two | 25 | |
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1 oscar da silva | 22 | eleven | 3 | two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | |
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twenty-one Alex Abrines | 17 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | two | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 23 | 0/3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
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22 Cory Higgins | 17 | 17 | two | 0 | two | two | two | 0 | 0 | 3/3 | 1/1 | 4/6 | 3 | two | 18 | |
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31 Rokas Jokubaitis | eleven | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 23 | 0/2 | 0 | 1 | two | |
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46 james naji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
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24 Kyle Kuric | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
saski baskonia
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7 Pierria Henry |
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0 markus howard |
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31 Rokas Giedraitis |
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24 Matt Costello |
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23 Steven Enoch |
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13 Darius Thompson |
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3. 4 Daulton Hommes |
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eleven Dani Diez |
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9 Vanja Marinkovic |
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twenty-one Maik Kotsar |
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two Sander Rieste |
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47 Arthur Kurucs |
| Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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7 Pierria Henry | 28 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 4/7 | 1/2 | 5 | two | 17 | |
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0 markus howard | 25 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9/9 | 2/5 | 4/7 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
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31 Rokas Giedraitis | 24 | 7 | two | 1 | 1 | two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 23 | 1/4 | 1 | two | 6 | |
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24 Matt Costello | 23 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 4/7 | 1/3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
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23 Steven Enoch | 8 | two | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
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13 Darius Thompson | 23 | 9 | 3 | 1 | two | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1/2 | 4/8 | 0/2 | 3 | two | 12 | |
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3. 4 Daulton Hommes | 18 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 2/6 | 0 | two | 5 | |
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eleven Dani Diez | 16 | 3 | two | 0 | two | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
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9 Vanja Marinkovic | 12 | 0 | two | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 1 | 4 | -4 | |
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twenty-one Maik Kotsar | 12 | two | 3 | 1 | two | two | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |
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two Sander Rieste | 6 | 0 | two | two | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | two | |
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47 Arthur Kurucs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |