It was a dominant performance by the Azulgrana
Jan Vesely leads Barcelona past Baskonia, 91-68
FC Barcelona remains undefeated at Palau Blaugrana in the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season after topping Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 91-68 in Round 8 on Friday night.
Joan Penarroya's men improved to 6-2 in the standings while Pablo Laso's Baskonia dropped to 4-4. Jan Vesely led the winners with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Punter added 15 points while Justin Anderson had 11. Trent Forrest paced Baskonia with 17 points, Markus Howard added 11 while Chima Moneke had 10.
Game Videos
Punter got the hosts going with a jumper which Forrest matched at the other end. Barcelona found an early go-to guy in Vesely, who buried consecutive jumpers and added a triple in a 13-0 run that saw Jabari Parker net 5 points. Forrest hit a stop-and-pop shot and matched Parker's turnaround jumper with a driving layup. Howard buried a three-pointer, but Chimezie Metu ignited the crowd with a one-handed alley-oop dunk before Baskonia responded through Khalifa Diop's jump hook to get within 19-11. Juan Nunez hit a triple but Forrest and Diop got the guests closer, 22-15. Nunez improved Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot's fast-break layup with a bomb from downtown, good for a 26-17 Barcelona lead after 10 minutes.
Metu hit a turnaround jumper early in the second quarter. Howard swished a baseline shot and added back-to-back three-pointers to bring Baskonia within 30-25. Youssoupha Fall scored down low, Ousmane Ndiaye answered with a jump hook and Donta Hall dunked off a steal to make it a three-point game, 32-29. Dario Brizuela rescued Barcelona with a triple and Punter added a jumper for a 37-29 lead. Parker scored around the basket and fed Tomas Satoransky for a three-pointer that made Baskonia call a timeout at 42-29. Forrest followed Nikos Rogkavopoulos's layup with an acrobatic basket. Punter hit another mid-range shot that restored a double-digit Barcelona lead, 44-33, at halftime.
Abrines took over with a four-point play soon after the break. Forrest answered with a driving layup and Chima Moneke gave Baskonia hope at 48-37. Satoransky hit a mid-range jumper and matched Hall's one-handed alley-oop slam with a fast-break layup. Moneke kept pacing the guests and Tadas Sedekerskis improved Parker's jumper with a triple for a 54-44 deficit. Punter took over with back-to-back three-pointers but Forrest and Moneke brought Baskonia a bit closer, 60-51. Dario Brizuela stepped up with a driving layup which fixed the score at 62-51 after 30 minutes.
Anderson scored in penetration early in the fourth quarter and Vesely soon made it a 15-point game, 66-51. Metu dunked to cap an 8-0 run, Sedekerskis and Vesely traded three-pointers and Anderson's dunk broke the game open, 73-54, with over 7 minutes left. Forrest scored around the basket, Vesely improved that with a three-pointer and Moneke's coast-to-coast layup got Baskonia closer, 76-58. A red-hot Vesely hit a jumper and fed Anderson for a floater. By the time Nunez hit a scoop shot, everything was said and done already as Barcelona cruised to a well-deserved, convincing home win.