2023-06-07 23:18:07
BarcelonaThe Euroleague teams have arrived in the final stretch of the season. Real Madrid, who lost against Joventut on Tuesday, know this, and Barça know this, as they suffered but won at the start of the semi-finals of the Liga Endesa. The Catalan team beat Unicaja in a game with great tactical content (84-81). The problems in controlling the rebound meant that the Barcelona team could not make good a difference of 16 points and had to hold their nerve until the last seconds.
“We had a very good first half, but then we had a very cold start and the game got complicated. We have to learn from this situation”, analyzed Sarunas Jasikevicius, who could not count on the best version of ‘a Nico Laprovittola who went unnoticed in the game.
The game, which was longer than a day without bread, started without success. The thick game of the two teams fed back and during the first three minutes the score did not move. Barça took advantage of the goals of Abrines and Sanli, who linked three consecutive three-pointers, to score an 11-0 run and obtain the first important difference of the night (22-11). The difference in success from the three-point line was decisive in the first quarter (26-15).
Unicaja knew how to use their improvement in offensive rebounding to break the home team’s pace of play, but their effort was not accompanied by an improvement in shooting percentages. Barça, who displayed a very adequate defensive strategy, but whose turnover was very short, managed to increase the difference to 16 points (45-29).
A capital third quarter by Yankuba Sima boosted the options of a Unicaja that grew during a much more offensive third quarter. The team from Málaga scored 27 points during a period in which the culer difference practically disappeared completely (57-55). Barça knew how to react to the rival’s attempts to tighten the match, but the problems to control the rebound became a very dangerous headache. Every time they seemed to have the game won, the team coached by Ibon Navarro found a way to reconnect.
Barça was winning by 5 points with 10 seconds to go, but Unicaja found a way to score two free throws and take the last possession (84-81). A recovery by Nikola Mirotic prevented the Málaga team from having the option of forcing overtime.
La Penya, with optimism
After Tuesday’s surprise, Joventut plays this Thursday (9 p.m., #Vamos) the second match of the semifinals against Real Madrid. “I’m very demanding of myself. We haven’t achieved anything, we’re playing for a title. Yes, I’m satisfied with the work we’re doing between my coaches and myself. We’ve done it all year, and now I have the feeling that we have reached a very high point. We have to keep enjoying knowing that we have to finish the job well”, says Carles Duran, coach of a more ambitious Penya than ever.
La Penya has reached the moment of truth of the ACB with very good feelings. “It’s probably one of our best moments, this is what the result confirms. Whatever happens, the way we play is important. The team is giving everything, and playing the best basketball possible. We didn’t achieve anything, but I hope they next games follow the line with which we have been playing lately. Our defensive level al play-off he is making a difference, he is being almost excellent”, says the coach.
#rebound #condemns #Barça #suffer