Three in a row from Cory Higgins In the last quarter, they decided to duel between Barcelona and Baskonia (96-84) at Palau Blaugrana in Euroleague basketball this Friday. .
In his best performance of the season, the Californian guard (17 points) was his best ally. Jan Vesely (18 and 25 valuation credits)duration Markus Howard was Vitoria’s top scorer with 25 points..
On paper, the match promised a clash of styles. On the one hand, basketball control of Barça, one of the best defenses in the Euroleague. On the other hand, the electric game of Baskonia, the team that scored the most goals in the competition.
In case of any doubt, the Basque team came out with their cards on the table: sudden and triple attacks, five consecutive starting attempts. He repeated the successes of Giedraitis and Henry with Şanlı and Kalinic (6-6, min.3) in the opposite ring.
Solid in the rebounds, Barcelona looked to the Serbian forward to punish Baskonia in the paint (7 points in the fourth round)., responding to every blow with fluid play and plenty of aim. Howard and Henry, with eleven points between them, were the most destabilizing teams.
After the first round (22-22) the Catalan team found a vein in the penetrations of their foreign players -Abrines, Higgins and Jokubaitis- (35-27, min.14) and Da Silva added two trios from the corners.
External description of the pivots and Return of the Howard-Henry duo (14 points from the first, 4 out of 5 in the triples and 8 points from the second at halftime) Despite da Silva’s horn (9) spoiling the first half (52-48), they allowed Baskonia to hold on to the arreón.
Peñarroya’s team came back from the locker room much more aggressively on both sides of the track. The aid network and double flagging designed by the Catalan coach suffocated Barça., he was stunned by the dynamism of Thompson and Henry in the defense (63-64, min.27).
As Laprovittola came to the rescue with two three-pointers and an assist (76-68, min 29), the uncertainty over Palau suddenly fell silent.. Undeniable, team Vitoria tied again at the start of the final round (76-76, min.31).
The duel, marked by the energy of the touchpoints and defenses, got tougher. Suddenly, Higgins opened fire on the local players with three threes in a row (90-80, min.37).. Crossing the defensive bar through the roof, the Catalan team secured the victory, relying on the reliability of the Californian guard and Vesely (96-84).
Data sheet:
96- Barcelona (22+30+24+20): Satoransky (7), Laprovittola (9), Kalinic (7), Tobey (9), Sanli (8) -first team-, Da Silva (11), Vesely (18), Abrines (6), Higgins (17), Kuric (-), Jokubaitis (4) and Nnaji (-).
84- Baskonia (22+26+25+11): Howard (25), Henry (13), Giedraitis (7), Costello (13), Enoch (4) -first team-, Raieste (-), Marinkovic (-), Díez (3), Thompson (9), Kotsar (2), Hommes (8) and Kurucs (-).
referees: Matej Boltauzer (ESL), Milivoje Jovcic (SER) and Joseph Bissang (FRA). They eliminated the visiting Kotsar with five fouls (min.35).
events: The match of the tenth day of the Euroleague was played in front of 5,599 spectators at the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona. Before kick-off, Barça CBS player Ainhoa López and three players from the Barcelona youth academy read a manifesto against violence against women.