Kevin Punter, Jabari Parker and Justin Anderson made some big buckets to seal the victory over Maccabi
'Hungrier' Barcelona refused to lose again
A slump in form and a series of injuries saw FC Barcelona lose four games in a row, including a tough 90-89 defeat away at Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens to kick off the two-round week. Barcelona seemed as though it was in control of the game in Greece, but an extraordinary Kendrick Nunn netted a career-high 29 points, including two midcourt buzzer-beaters to lead Panathinaikos to victory.
That loss dealt yet another blow in morale for the Barcelona players, who needed to find an answer that would allow the team to bounce back and potentially turn their season around. The Catalans started strong against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv on Thursday night, but the hosts outscored them 28-15 in the second quarter to take a 44-37 cushion into the second half.
It got even worse after the break, with Maccabi going on a 9-0 run that extended its lead to 16 points. But Barcelona fought back, netted 27 points in 8 minutes in the third quarter and slashed the deficit to 66-64 heading into the fourth.
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“I’m proud of our character and because we believed,” head coach Joan Penarroya said in the post-game press conference.
The duel turned into an exchange of blows, with Kevin Punter, Jabari Parker and Justin Anderson nailing big buckets to seal the 86-88 outcome.
“We were the hungrier team,” Anderson told EuroLeague TV. “The Panathinaikos loss that we just suffered was really gut-wrenching, hard for guys to sleep. It was a tough loss for us. The team was ready, we were ready to go out and maybe get our revenge a little bit.”
Parker and Punter netted 18 points each, with the former coming close to recording a double-double, as he picked up a season-high 9 rebounds.
“I think we wanted it a little bit more,” Parker admitted after the game. “Especially myself. I was tired of losing. That’s what it takes. Try to do as hard as you can while you’re here now.”
Anderson chipped in with a season-high 16 points, including an impossible buzzer-beating off-balance jumper to make it 84-87 with 01:35 left on the clock.
“We had a guy [Nunn] score three buzzer-beaters against us from halfcourt,” Anderson added after the clash. “We needed luck on our side and I was happy it was on our side finally this time.”
After snapping its four-game losing streak, Barcelona will look to build on its momentum starting next week, when the Catalan side hosts EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. Luck may not be something that they can control, but should Barcelona show the same hunger against the Italian side, this could well be the start of a winning run.