Barça beat Bayern Munich this Thursday (79-87) at the BMW Park in a duel that was of vital importance in order to be seeded in the ‘Playoffs’, and which the Blaugranas won thanks to a great first half and knowing how to suffer at the end to leave behind the slump of two consecutive defeats away from the Palau Blaugrana, with a great performance by Jabari Parker.
Barça won by 22 points, on two different occasions, but left Pablo Laso’s Bayern to only 6 points after some free throws by Vladimir Lucic with 1:04 minutes remaining. But everything ended in a scare, Barça knew how to redirect the situation and achieve a key victory in their aspirations.
The Blaugrana team continues to depend on itself to go to the ‘Playoffs’ with a home field advantage. On the other hand, Bayern’s continuity in this Euroleague is very complicated and they will need to win and pray with caroms. That’s how important this duel was for both teams and Roger Grimau’s team won.
With 30-47 at halftime after an 11-22 run in the second quarter, Barça seemed to have everything under control. Good performance on both sides of the court and a lost Bayern. But the local reaction, signed by the Spanish Serge Ibaka and an inspired Nick Weiler-Babb, was not enough to put an end to a Barça that, despite going from strength to strength, knew how to hold its own in the third quarter and play with the point mattress in the room.
Only three ‘culers’ players scored more than 10 points, but that choral performance and not depending on anyone was even good. And the local triples in the second half gave wings to a Bayern that believed in itself and did not give up at any time. Not even at 40-62 after Nico Laprovittola scored, equaling the Catalan maximum difference well into the third quarter.
Barça stayed on top thanks in part to Jabari Parker’s 15 points, from the shadows and appearing not to be in the paint. Or Nico Laprovittola’s 14, with a hot wrist in the final plays. But also thanks to the intangibles, to those numbers that cannot be seen. And that’s where Ricky Rubio stood out; just 6 free throws, but with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals to his credit.
A know-how, a greater experience, which ended up tipping the balance in favor of Barça when the entire BMW Park was dreaming of a comeback. The Blaugrana team comes out of the hole, after losing against Panathinaikos and Fenerbahçe, and faces with more calm the final two days against Maccabi, at home, and ASVEL at the Palau Blaugrana, still with everything at stake.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: BAYERN MUNICH, 79 – BARÇA, 87 (30-47, at half-time).
–EQUIPMENT.
BAYERN MUNICH: Edwards (6), Bolmaro (-), Lucic (13), Bonga (9) and Ibaka (17) –the starting quintet–; Weiler-Babb (17), Francisco (8), Radoncic (1), Wimberg (2), Harris (6) and Kharchenkov (-).
BARÇA: Satoransky (9), Laprovittola (14), Kalinic (8), Da Silva (4) and Vesely (12) –starting quintet–; Brizuela (3), Rubio (6), Hernangómez (9), Abrines (3), Parker (15) and Jokubaitis (4).
–PARTIALS: 19-25, 11-22, 23-24 and 26-16. No eliminated.
–REFEREES: Belosevic, Nedovic and Balak.
–PAVILLION: BMW Park.