By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona is a team gifted with offensive talent, but it was defense and grit that decided the 80-74 road win in Istanbul against Fenerbahce BEKO. To be exact, the grit and defense of Brandon Davies who finished the game with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Those are not flashy numbers. Still, Davies’ performance in the second half was the key to Barcelona’s win after three straight defeats. Victor Claver was the top scorer of the winners with 17 points, Nikola Mirotic added 12 points and ten rebounds, while Malcolm Delaney had 14, which included some perfectly timed threes.
Delaney who also reached the milestone of 1.000 points in his EuroLeague career, admitted that breaking the losing streak was the biggest takeaway from this game: “We’ve been on a losing streak so it’s good to win on the road against a tough team. It’s good to get to 1,000 points [in his EuroLeague career], but better we got the win. The last time I played here with Lokomotiv we lost, so I’ve been waiting and I’m glad I got the chance to win here. To get our confidence back after a long week for us is the best thing about it.”
Despite an 11-0 start for Barcelona and a 24-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, Fenerbahce was trailing by three (42-39) at halftime, and the game practically started again almost from zero.
“We started lazily, but we found a way to come back”, admitted coach Zeljko Obradovic.
The guests were not rattled by Fenerbahce’s comeback and built a 57-48 advantage, but the hosts were not ready to back down. They cut the lead again to four (58-54), and the third quarter ended with Barcelona up by five (61-56).
With Bobby Dixon scoring, Fenerbahce finally got its first lead (62-61) after a quick 6-0 run at the start of the last period, and the game turned into a dogfight. Still, entering the final four minutes of the contest, Barcelona had a seven-point advantage (71-64) again.
A big three by Delaney after the sixth missed three by Derrick Williams made it again a ten-point game (76-66) with 2.35′ left.
Fenerbahce trimmed the lead to four (78-74) after two free throws by Kostas Sloukas with 29 seconds left on the clock, Mirotic answered with two more made free throws (80-74) and the game was over.
Sloukas finished the game with 14 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. Barcelona has a 14-6 record, good enough for the third spot, while Fenerbahce dropped to 8-12 and still has a mountain to climb to reach the playoffs.
Refereeing complains
Despite the result, Barcelona coach Svetislav Pesic didn’t hide his feeling about the level of officiating in the game: “The key was our decision not to talk in the second half to the referees and to be focused on the game. The second key point was protecting the rim, and we did that, but we also made many turnovers in the last two minutes, which gave a chance to Fenerbahce to get close”.
Zeljko Obradovic implied the same: “The main reasons for our defeat were missing many open shots and our turnovers, however, there’s one more reason but I don’t want to talk about that. I am very proud of the way we fought. We played against one of the best teams in the league”.
As for the referees, Obradovic stated that Fenerbahce will proceed in an official complaint to the EuroLeague: “We will prepare for sure a video and we will discuss it with people from the EuroLeague, this is the only way. Of course, we respect the competition, we respect everybody but we want to have also the same respect”.
Photo credit: EuroLeague