By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
A well-timed 10-0 run made things happen for Barcelona on the road against Valencia. The guests got the 88-78 win and remained all alone in the second spot of the standings after a big fight.
To be exact with Valencia trailing by three (66-63) and eight minutes left in the game, Barcelona made the score 76-63 and never looked back after that.
Jan Vesely with 21 points on 10/10 FG, Jabari Parker with 12, and Nicolas Laprovittola with 13 points and seven assists were the leaders of the winners, while Nikola Kalinic also with 13 points added key baskets during the crucial run.
“I am just happy we managed to get ourselves focused”, said Vesely after the game as Barcelona with a 19-9 record still has a one-win advantage over the teams chasing them.
A fight for three-quarters
Valencia got 17 points from Semi Ojeleye, 15 points from Chris Jones, and 13 from Damien Inglis but couldn’t get into sticking distance at the end.
However, the hosts were leading at halftime (42-37) and trailed just by two points (59-57) entering the last period, being more than competitive for three quarters.
“Valencia had nine steals which allowed them to make easy baskets, but we controlled this in the second half, we defended pretty physically, and in the end, we had 26 assists”, said Barcelona coach Roger Grimau.
“We knew that Valencia had the best defense, we played at times really good basketball so I am really happy”, he added.
After this result, Valencia dropped to 13-15 and the 11th spot of the standings, just outside the play-in line.
“In the fourth quarter, they played more physically than us and we couldn’t find any option”, said Valencia coach Alex Mumbru.
Kalinic vs ref Robert Lottermoser
After the game, Nikola Kalinic made a very specific comment about referee Robert Lottermoser during his flash interview.
Kalinic spoke about the game and then added without being questioned: “I told him also and I want to tell it also publicly. I think it’s inappropriate for referee Robert Lottermoser to tell me that if I talk to him, he will not call fouls on me. I think it’s against every rule of the game. I don’t know if he is mad at me for something from previous games, but it’s incredible for a referee to say that to me. The players should be the stars of the game and as long the referees are thinking like this, it’s a big problem”.
Photo credit: EuroLeague