The Spanish giant recovered from the previous round’s home defeat by Milan while the visitors suffered yet another debacle
Barcelona bounced back in style as Fenerbahce crisis continued
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Regular Season
Round 16 of 34
Group Regular Season
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FC Barcelona got its Turkish Airlines EuroLeague campaign back on track with a resounding 90-63 home win over Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, which piled more misery on the Turkish side after its 69-99 home rout at the hands of AS Monaco in the previous round.
As a result of its fourth defeat in the last six games, Fenerbahce’s slide continued as the competition’s 2017 champion slipped from first to fifth in the standings with a 10-6 record, while Barcelona improved to 9-7 after winning just its second game in the last six.
The home team’s head coach Joan Penarroya, who took over this past summer, was able to breathe a sigh of relief after seeing his team whitewash Fenerbahce led by Barcelona’s former player and coach Sarunas Jasikevicius.
With guard Scottie Wilbekin out for the season with a torn ACL, Fenerbahce was dealt a further backcourt blow as Wade Baldwin trudged off in the second quarter with what looks like a recurring hamstring injury, paving the way for Barcelona’s hitman Kevin Punter to have a field day.
Punter tormented his markers all night and sank a game-high 25 points to claim the player of the game accolade, while Justin Anderson also enjoyed a stellar night as he was perfect from all over, finishing on 18 points including a pair of spectacular slams.
Punter pointed out that Barca now needed to steady the ships and avoid rocky waters if the Spanish giant is to stay firmly on course for a playoff berth. “One of the areas we want to grow in is being consistent for 40 minutes,” Punter said in a courtside interview.
“[Fenerbahce] was able to get a small run but we managed to get some stops, make some plays and finish the game. We’ve got to keep playing like we’ve got something to prove,” added the 31-year-old from Bronx.
Anderson acknowledged that Barca was hard-pressed to make amends for the previous round’s 81-94 home loss to EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, when the hosts suffered a 5-28 third quarter collapse.
“We were focused, we were prepared and we knew that we had to put on a show for our fans tonight,” he said, while Penarroya added: “It was a complete performance on offense and defense. It was important to have a good game in front of our fans at Palau [Blaugrana].”
Jasikevicius tried to put on a brave face, but it was obvious that Fenerbahce’s current form and mounting injury problems do not make happy reading for the rest of the season.
“It was a tough one,” said the Lithuanian legend, who won the 2003 EuroLeague title with Barcelona as a player. “We came out without understanding how Barcelona will play and couldn’t handle the pressure. We didn’t respond to physicality in a lot of situations.”
In Round 17, Barcelona visits struggling Virtus Segafredo Bologna while Fenerbahce faces a road game at high-flying EuroLeague debutant Paris Basketball.