Barça fought with pride in the final quarter to defeat Virtus Bologna in the Palau Blaugrana (88-81). Barça fans, who blew the whistle a week ago to bid farewell to the players and manager, have made peace with the team, which is located in the EuroLeague’s exalted zone. In Óscar Orellana’s penultimate game as caretaker manager before the arrival of Xavi Pascual, the Barça team overcame a very close game by taking a 27-14 lead in the final 10 minutes.
For the Barça team, five local players scored over 10 points: Punter (17 points), Vesely (12 points), Laprovitla (10 points), Cliburn (13 points), and Shengelia (10 points), while guard Matthew Morgan stood out on the perimeter (14 triples in 33 attempts) against his rivals (17 points).
The game started out evenly with both teams trading points. Barça, finding it difficult to close down defensive rebounds, relied on Punter and Laprovitla from the 6.75-meter line to counter the hard attacks of Dusko Ivanovic’s team (7-9, m.5). In the first quarter, the local team stopped Virtus star Carsen Edwards, but Diouf, Diara and Smailagic broke through the Barça team’s zone, but they ended the first quarter with a slight advantage thanks to Nico Laprovitla’s triple (20-19).
The match continued in the same vein, with neither team able to break the duel, but it seemed as if the Italian team controlled the pace, but the Italian team pressed back and chewed out each attack with passes that easily dismantled Barça’s second unit defense. The team led the attack with a variety of attacks by Jarreau and Morgan, who made a spectacular dunk, and built a comfortable lead of 6 points (14 minutes) after crossing the mountainous area. Barça pressed defensively, especially on defensive rebounds. There are no second chances for Virtus, and Oscar Orellana’s students easily picked out Vesely and Kevin Panter. A 7-0 run in the final two and a half minutes, culminating with two triples by Punter and the final buzzer from midcourt, made it 45-43 in favor of the home team before intermission.
Even after leaving the locker room, the duel did not end. Edwards made two easy baskets in quick succession to put his team back in the lead (45-47, age 21). But the star of the third act for Barça’s side was former Virtus player Will Clyburn, who played brilliantly in the low post and scored eight points to keep his team afloat in the third quarter, as the visitors seemed to have a clearer idea of what to play. With patient basketball, the team that crossed the Alps, under Morgan’s outside hierarchy, went on a 2-9 run in the final three minutes of the third period, and Barça received a misdirection from the perimeter, leaving them trailing by six points (61-67) before the final 10 minutes of the game. Barça regained their success from the perimeter and once again took control of the game.
At 2:08 of the first half, Brizuela’s triple and Parra’s back-to-back triples gave the home team momentum (70-69), forcing Ivanovic to stop the game. Barça’s defensive intensity dwarfed the Italian team, and they were overwhelmed in attack, unable to do any damage with the blocks and continuity that cost Barça big penalties in the first three quarters. The score went from 61-69 to 77-69 in five minutes.
The 16-0 run ignited a Palau crowd that had been isolated by outbursts of team pride in recent years. The game wasn’t over yet. With Diouf in the zone and Morgan on the perimeter, the Italian team was down to three points with less than two minutes remaining. But Clyburn hit a triple with 53 seconds left, ending the game in the Catalans’ favor. This Sunday against Baskonia, he will get another chance, this time in the Endesa League, to continue reconciliation with the fans before the arrival of Xavi Pascual.
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