BarcelonaThe long-awaited Catalan semi-final of the Endesa League began with an electric match at the Palau Blaugrana in which Barça managed to turn off the energy of the Joventut de Badalona (89-72). The Barça team, which went from strength to strength, scored the first victory of a tie against a rival that started with more pace than success (1-0).
The current champion’s concentration was very good during the 40 minutes. The Barça team distributed 23 assists. Sertaç Sanli, who scored 16 points with 4/4 in triples, became the unexpected protagonist of the Catalan victory. In addition, the Turkish pivot caught 8 rebounds. “We were very solid, especially in defense. We have to be happy because we made good decisions when they were risking in defense,” said Sarunas Jasikevicius. The Lithuanian coach ruled out Dante Exum and Pierre Oriola and recovered Nigel Hayes-Davis, who had been left out of the squad in recent games, and Sertaç Sanli, who suffered a contusion during the first match against Gran Canaria. . The Lithuanian coach adjusted some of his usual rotations to try to take the initiative in some direct confrontations against the Peña.
“Barça have played with more energy and been superior to us. We have to try to be a better team and play with the intensity of a few play-off. They dominated the rebound and got it right from the three-point line, “said Carles Duran. The coach of the Peña had Vladimir Brodziansky out. the last matches, in its rotation, the victim was Ferran Bassas.
The match was a duel of styles, a battle to try to dominate the pace of play. Both Barça and Joventut de Badalona tried to condition the game from the defense. The Barça team started better (10-4), but the response of the green-and-black team was very strong in the first quarter with a few points (12-11).
The most reliable Barça player during the second quarter was Sanli, who came to the break with 11 points scored and maximum effectiveness from the three-point line (3/3). The dominance in the rebound was another weapon of the Catalan team, which built a difference of 12 points (39-27). Despite having low success rates, Joventut managed to compete well at the Palau Blaugrana, where veterans Pau Ribas and Ante Tomic carried the weight of the game in attack (40-31).
Joel Parra encouraged the Penya’s offensive production at the start of a third quarter in which the visiting team reduced the gap on the scoreboard (42-37). The local response was led by Nikola Mirotic and resulted in an 11-0 (53-37) partial. The Montenegrin center-back and Brandon Davies added 15 points in a three and nothing. Barça scored 29 points during a period in which Joventut were too weak to stay on the scoreboard. The Catalan team arrived in the last ten minutes with a difference of 21 points (69-48).
With the game decided, Barça managed to maintain their success during a last quarter in which Joventut tried different things to end the match with good feelings. Without aim from the three-point line, the visitors’ comeback was impossible.
Sunday, second game
The second match of the qualifier, scheduled for the best of five matches, will be played this Sunday (12.30pm, #Vamos), again at the Palau Blaugrana. Next week the semi-final will move to the Palau Olímpic de Badalona. Real Madrid and Bitci Baskonia, meanwhile, will play their second match this Saturday (6pm, #Vamos). The white team scored its first victory (1-0) on Thursday.