By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After losing two games in Liga Endesa, FC Barcelona needed something special in Monaco.
That was a career game by Dario Brizuela who led his team to the 98-84 win, the first home defeat of Monaco under coach Vassilis Spanoulis.
Brizuela finished the night with 27 points in 28 minutes on 6/8 threes, making things happen in the last period when Barcelona took an 18-point lead.
“We played amazing today and I love my team”, said Brizuela after the game, who averaged just 13 minutes of action so far, adding: “We are in a hard moment right now, because we are losing a lot of games the last moment or due to bad luck. So this win is huge for us”.
Monaco tried to react thanks to Mike James who had 23 points and eight assists but in the end, it was not enough. Barcelona in total shot 52% in threes (13/25) in with this kind of shooting, it’s not easy to lose.
The home team dropped to a 13-7 record and Olympiacos has a chance to stay alone in the top if they beat Bayern at home, while Barcelona with an 11-9 record is still on track as a playoffs contender.
Barcelona in charge
Barcelona set the tone early, leading 25-17 after the first period, and held on to a four-point advantage at halftime (44-41).
The hosts tied the score at the start of the second half and even got a 57-56 lead after five minutes of action in the third period, but at the end of the quarter, Barcelona was up by six (66-60).
With the game on the line, Barcelona managed to build an 83-65 advantage thanks to a 15-3 run with less than seven minutes left in the game.
In just a bit more than two minutes, however, Monaco reacted with Mike James making big shots and cut the lead to seven (85-78) but couldn’t get closer than this.
Behind a stellar night by Brizuela, Barcelona managed to keep its distance and got a big road win.
Photo credit: Barcelona/X