Joventut and Barça showed their scoring skills
Yesterday, in Round 25 of the ACB League, we had a Catalan derby in Badalona between Joventut and FC Barcelona, a game that was very important for the standings too.
Before the game, the two teams were tied with a 14-10 record, just two wins inside the top 8 in the standings. The hosts from Badalona started the game fired up by the Penya fans who packed the gym, and Ante Tomic, the former Barca player, scored the first basket of the game almost immediately after the tip-off. However, the blaugrana withstood the pressure and slowly started to take control of the game. By the middle of the second quarter coach Penarroya’s team even reached a 20-point lead (21-41) after an and-one by Parra, and the game seemed to be over at that point. After the halftime break, things did not improve from Joventut’s perspective, and the gap got wider and reached a maximum of 26 points (40-66) in the third quarter. However, Barca’s defence unexpectedly collapsed in the last quarter, and Joventut started a push for a huge comeback. They cut the deficit to only four points (82-86), but it wasn’t enough, and Barcelona got the win in the end 93-86.
Kevin Punter and Jabari Parker finished as top scorers for the Blaugrana with 14 points each, followed by Tomas Satoransky and Joel Parra with 11 points each. For the hosts, Ante Tomic and Sam Dekker finished as top scorers with 17 points each, while another former Barca player, Adam Hanga, had an amazing night with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
With this important win, Barcelona fans can breathe a little as their team improved to 15-10 and is currently 5th in the standings. There are still nine rounds left, and the Blaugrana could even reach a top-four place, which would allow them to have home-court advantage in the ACB playoffs. In the meantime, they have some very important EuroLeague games as well, where they fight for a playoff spot.
Imre Halasz
Photo: Levante
