The Spanish giant has hit top form in the home stretch of the regular season
Brilliant Barcelona rolled on with big win over Partizan
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 29 of 34
Group Regular Season
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FC Barcelona continued its impressive surge in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after a dominant fourth-quarter performance gave the Spanish giant a 94-76 home win over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, its fifth win in the last six games.
The outcome tightened Barcelona’s grip on second place in the standings with a 20-9 record and made happy reading for the Catalan club ahead of the home stretch, with some tough road games coming up.
Partizan (13-16) held its own for three quarters but the visitors, who suffered their fifth defeat in the last six, were blown away in the final 10 minutes as Barca overran the Serbian team with a barrage of three-pointers and fast breaks, on the back of ironclad defense.
A thrilling climax to the contest looked likely when Partizan pulled to 74-70 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but the hosts then moved two gears up and closed the game out comfortably.
Veteran point guard Ricky Rubio, who returned to Barcelona last month for his second spell with the club after spending the last 13 years in the NBA, played a telling cameo role in the victory with 7 points, 6 assists and as many rebounds.
The 33-year-old pulled the strings on offense in 16:42 minutes on the court with dazzling runs, which ripped Partizan’s defense apart, as he dished out assists like confetti. Two of those assists produced spectacular slam-dunks by Willy Hernangomez and galvanized a passionate home crowd in the Palau Blaugrana, where a sizeable contingent of loud visiting fans contributed to a fabulous atmosphere.
Rubio pointed out that containing Partizan captain Kevin Punter to a mere 6 points was one of the keys to Barca’s whopping win, as the home team stifled the visitors in crunch time.
“We played aggressive because we knew they have a really good team and they can get hot. We controlled Punter, it was a good overall performance and a great win,” Rubio said.
He also acknowledged that blending in at Barca has been a process since he rejoined the club from the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he had struggled with a recurring knee injury for the lion’s share of his three-year spell with his last NBA franchise.
“It’s an adjustment,” he commented when asked how it felt to be back at Barcelona. “My body and my mind have had to adjust, I am getting to know my teammates better and it’s a step closer to where we want to be,” Rubio added.
Rubio’s flashes of brilliance aside, Nicolas Laprovittola and Willy Hernangomez came up big as the former sank 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from downtown and the latter added 15 points, having sank all his 6 shots from the floor.
Laprovittola stressed that stepping up on defense in the second half, when Barcelona limited Partizan to just 28 points, was vital in brushing the Serbian team aside.
“We changed our defense and our energy in the second half,” said the Argentine guard. “We did a better job with rebounds, we also kept running and scoring easy fastbreak points. It was as physical as any match in the EuroLeague, we are in March and we know that everyone is fighting for a position in the standings.”
Head coach Roger Grimau concurred that the defensive effort was crucial.
“Great job on defense, in the third quarter too but especially in the fourth,” he said. Last but not least, Grimau praised the home fans who were louder than ever in their own battle with boisterous Partizan supporters, who made the trip and thronged the Palau Blaugrana in numbers. Asked how important a role the home faithful played in Barca’s emphatic victory, Grimau simply said: “Palau is Palau.”
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