The Barça leaves itchy to the Real Madrid
Jasikevicius’s men win a tense and controversial Clásico in extra time to reaffirm their leadership
MADRID, 10 Apr. (SportsFinding) –
Barça scored a hot clash (108-97) against Real Madrid this Sunday on matchday 28 of the Endesa League held at the Palau Blaugrana, where the whites showed that they still want to say a lot this season, with a great second half where he was forced to go into overtime due to a foul by Poirier 0.8 from the end.
The French pivot hooked Sanli with his arm and the referee’s whistle made the white bench go crazy, with Pablo Laso applauding the decision with a more than ironic laugh. The culé player missed the first and scored the second, with a lot of suspense, to make it 89-89 that meant extra time.
Hayes had had a shot to sentence, but he did not hit, and in the high rebound came that action between Poirier and Sanli. After the shots, Llull, with that 0.8, sent a triple to the hoop, without avoiding those five more minutes that would be local (19-8). Barça became great with a Hayes who retaliated with 9 points, Exum also loosened his nerves to sting and a lot to a Madrid that was looking for redemption.
All this happened in just a few minutes, and five minutes from the end came another critical moment, in a clash between Mirotic and Abalbe that, after a long review, resulted in the two being expelled. Barça came out worse from the heat, although it was already coming off a bad second half. Laso’s team grew in defense and made the leader doubt.
Laprovittola (20 points) was the only one with the nerves of steel to keep the ‘Saras’ team alive. The Argentine took the reins of a Barça with disconnections, as in the first minute and the last of the first quarter, when he enjoyed 10-point leads. With a lot of success and good defense, the losses weighed down the local team, with a cushion despite everything at halftime (51-46).
Mirotic continued to give that aim even though Smits was the most valuable supporting actor on the floor. Madrid found Yabusele and Poirier and, with that thirst for revenge and wounded pride, they fought in defense until they made the match very uncomfortable for the rival. Llull confirmed the comeback and after Mirotic’s expulsion, Barça felt leaderless. Taylor added more defense but a gift from Hanga gave the last possession to the culé team, that shot by Hayes.
On the rebound, the referees saw what is often not seen but is still a foul and Sanli, who could have won the game, forced extra time. Madrid’s pride, with Heurtel and Thompkins separated from the team, ran dry in Palau delivered to his team. The Barça leader scored three wins for the Whites in the 11th Barça Clasico of the 14 that Jasikevicius has directed.
DATASHEET:
–RESULT: BARÇA, 108 – REAL MADRID, 97. (51-46, at halftime).
–TEAMS:
BARÇA: Laprovittola (20), Calathes (3), Exum (16), Mirotic (14) and Smits (18) –initial quintet–, Sanli (10), Jokubaitis (5), Martínez (-), Abrines ( -), Kuric (6), Hayes (16), Nnaji (-).
REAL MADRID: Abalde (7), Taylor (4), Deck (17), Yabusele (13) and Tavares (14) –initial quintet–; Causeur (3), Poirier (14), Llull (10), Hanga (11), Randolph (4).
–PARTIALS: 27-23, 24-23, 20-19, 18-24, 19-8.
–REFEREES: Conde, Martín Caballero and Oyón.
–PAVILLION: Palau Blaugrana.