After a tight first half, Joan Penarroya's team went on to win by 29 points
Barcelona went to another level after the break to defeat Maccabi
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Regular Season
Round 25 of 34
Group Regular Season
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The final score did not reflect just how tight the game between FC Barcelona and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv was in the opening 23 minutes.
Maccabi played a very solid first half, outrebounding Barca 18-23, pulling down 10 offensive boards and limiting the hosts' ball circulation.
Indeed, Barca had just 6 assists before the break and picked up as many as 5 turnovers. Despite being very effective inside the arc (12 of 18, 66.7% 2FG), Barca only hit 5-of-15 three-pointers (33.3% 3FG).
Once both teams returned to the court, Barcelona had a very different mentality. First, it found new go-to guys.
Kevin Punter scored 19 of his 28 points after the break to make the difference in the game. Chimezie Metu went scoreless in the opening 28 minutes but finished the game with 11 points, striking three times from beyond the arc. Once Barca found its scoring references, everything was way easier.
Barca had 58 points after the break, the second-best scoring mark in a second half during this EuroLeague season, en route to an eventual 100-71 victory; Paris Basketball had 60 points in the second half of a 109-107 road loss against FC Bayern Munich in Round 4. Its is Barca's third-best scoring mark in a second half: it had 61 points in a 65-104 road win against PGE Turow Zgorzelec on December 5, 2014, and reached 59 in a 107-76 home victory over Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir on November 19, 2015. Alex Abrines and Tomas Satoransky were present in all three games.
The hosts dramatically improved under the boards, which was one of the biggest keys to this game. Barca outrebounded Maccabi 20-10 in the second half, allowing Maccabi to get just 2 offensive boards and grabbing 11 on the defensive end. Barca also improved its ball circulation, getting 11 assists and 7 turnovers in the second half. Maccabi had 12 second-half turnovers, twice as many as before the break.
All that led to a very comfortable win after a difficult first half in which Maccabi competed much better.
"We played more consistent in the second half, more solid in different situations, and we controlled our defensive rebounds," Barca head coach Joan Penarroya said after the game. "We needed to play solid against Maccabi, it is a very good team on offense, but I think we played a good game."
On Friday, Barca hosts league leader Olympiacos Piraeus while Maccabi visits Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in a rematch of the 2005 EuroLeague Championship Game.