Barcelona recovers sensations against a combative Maccabi
The Blaugrana team came back in the last quarter with an offensive display by Higgins and Jokubaitis
MADRID, 31 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Barça became strong this Tuesday at the Palau Blaugrana and carried out (83-78) their duel against Maccabi Tel Aviv on matchday 22 of the Regular Phase of the Euroleague 2022/2023, with a hard-fought victory that came back in the last fourth, to leave behind the bad taste in the mouth of the Clásico lost the previous day.
Sarunas Jasikevicius’ men (8/14) returned to the Palau, after playing at home the last two dates, with a victory against Baskonia and a defeat against Real Madrid, where they returned to recover sensations against a combative Maccabi. A victory of merit that, in addition to having double value due to the victory in the first round in Israel, allows them to become strong in the fight for the ‘playoffs’ and in their aspirations for the ‘Top4’.
The good work of Cory Higgins (15 points), Rokas Jokubaitis (14) and Nikola Mirotic (9 rebounds) at the end was enough for the Blaugrana team to come back from behind in the fourth quarter against a Hebrew team that added their second consecutive European defeat . Oded Kattash’s men (11/11) saw their aspirations halted, although they will continue to have options to sneak into the top 8 teams in the top continental competition.
Thus, although it was difficult for the Blaugrana team to impose their law from the beginning, the figures of Tomas Satoransky and Cory Higgins were key for the culé team to begin to find advantages in the face of Maccabi’s defense problems. The great success from the line of three also helped Jasikevicius’ men go ahead at halftime (41-37), despite the efforts of Jalen Adams and W. Baldwin IV to keep the match alive.
After the restart, he changed the script on the track with a more plugged-in Maccabi in attack. Oded Kattash’s men returned from the locker room with a 7-0 run to level the contest and even get ahead on the scoreboard. Good minutes from the Hebrews to silence at times a Palau who saw how his people were unable to react.
Although Nikola Mirotic tried to throw the team on his back to avoid the debacle, Maccabi’s outside game continued to do a lot of damage to an ineffective culé defense in transitions. Baldwin’s offensive festival was too much for a Catalan team that forced in the last minutes of the third quarter with a 5-0 run to reach the end alive (62-67).
With everything to be decided, Jasikevicius’s team did not take long to score to tighten the result again. Thus, Álex Abrines also began to take responsibility, adding troops to the cause. Between the Spanish international and Rokas Jokubaitis they shared the entire game of the last quarter, to reach the halfway point with maximum equality (73-74).
A mid-distance shot from Cory Higgins restored the lead to the Catalans, who from then on found no rival, going up to a 10-0 run. Although the Hebrew team did not give up on their efforts, the culé roller, led in part by the American guard, passed over a Maccabi who saw how the locals, far superior in attack, ended all hope of being able to add something positive in the Palau Blaugrana.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: BARCELONA, 83 – MACCABI TEL AVIV, 78 (41-37, at halftime).
–TEAMS.
BARÇA: Satoransky (9), Laprovittola (5), Kalinic (3), Mirotic and Vesely (10) –starting five–; Da Silva (-), Sanli (3), Abrines (8), Higgins (15), Kuric (-), Tobey (5) and Jokubaitis (14).
MACCABI PLAYTIKA TEL AVIV: Adams (20), Baldwin (15), Martin (11), Colson (7) and Nebo (1) –starting five–; Dibartolomeo (2), Menco (-), Sorkin (7), Hilliard (11), Cohen (-), Braimoh (4) and Ziv (-).
— PARTIALS: 14-13, 21-22, 21-30, 21-11.
–REFEREES: Jovcic, Panther and Difallah.
–HALL: Palau Blaugrana.