By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Jan Vesely completed quite the double-game EuroLeague week for him and Barcelona by pouring 22 points and lead his team to a 89 – 85 win over Baskonia after a comeback from down 11 in the fourth period.
It was exactly in that fourth quarter where Vesely erupted.
After going scoreless in the third period, the Czech big man made most of Barcelona’s points in the last five minutes, including, of course, the baskets that tied the score and gave his team the lead, finishing with 13 overall in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t play the way we wanted in the second half but we turned it on in the fourth quarter. I’m happy we got the focus back and we managed to win the game,” Vesely said.
Two days ago he had a 27-point game in the Clasico win over Real Madrid. “It’s a team performance. It’s not about only one player. I’m happy we got the win.”
Markus Howard had 21 points (on 8-19 shots) for Baskonia. He also drained a triple to make it 86 – 85 with 12 seconds remaining but then Joel Parra and Vesely hit free throws to secure Barca’s win.
Baskonia previously led 62 – 73 almost two minutes into the fourth period. Jabari Parker provided some key 3-pointers and then Barca’s defense along with Vesely’s offensive streak changed the course of the match completely.
“We didn’t have clear options on offense in the last minutes,” said Baskonia coach Dusko Ivanovic.
Apart from Howard, Tadas Sedekerskis finished with 14 points plus six rebounds for the Basque side that dropped to 10 – 9.
“It’s not easy”
Parker had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists in his arguably his top EuroLeague performance. Willy Hernangomez provided Barcelona with 16 points, 14 of them in the first 14 minutes to help his team towards closing halftime up 47 – 42 before Baskonia turned the game around in the third quarter. Parra scored 13.
“We allowed too many easy baskets,” Barca coach Roger Grimau said. His team moved to 13-6 with this win. “I think we had a very good comeback in the last minutes. I’m really happy for this win. You can’t win easy in EuroLeague. We see every game, in every round, it’s not easy.”