Barcelona scored only 10 fourth-quarter points, but still managed to preserve its slim lead
Barcelona edges Milan in 'dogfight' at Palau Blaugrana
Ανάλυση αγώνα
3 Χρόνος Ανάγνωσης
Regular Season
Round 7 of 38
Regular Season
FC BarcelonaBAR
7472
EA7 Emporio Armani MilanEA7
Overview
w
l
l
w
w
l
l
w
l
l
In an every-game-matters EuroLeague Regular Season, few things are more valuable than pulling out victories in games where a team never leads by more than 4 points. And such was the case on Tuesday night at Palau Blaugrana, where FC Barcelona held on for a dramatic 74-72 win over the visiting EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.
“We had to get into a dogfight,” is how Will Clyburn best put it in a EuroLeague TV post-game interview. “We had to fight for it today.”
Clyburn was the game’s top scorer with 17 points, including a runner high off the glass that put Barcelona up 73-69 with 29 seconds to go.
It was far from over, however, as Armoni Brooks answered with a three-pointer 4 seconds later, and after Milan’s defensive stand, the visitors had a possession to win it. But it was Barcelona’s defense that once again showed up on this night, and Shavon Shields’s game-winning three-point attempt was well off the mark.
“We have a lot of vets on this team, a lot of guys who played in a lot of big games. We came out in the second half with some fire, and got the win”, Clyburn added.
That fire was, actually, nowhere to be found in the first two quarters, as Milan opened a 30-41 lead. But Barcelona finished the second quarter with back-to-back threes from Miles Norris and a buzzer-beating dagger from Clyburn to cut the margin to 5 points.
The hosts then exploded for 28 third-quarter points, but were trailing until a three-pointer from Clyburn tied it at 54-54, and a triple from Tomas Satoransky on the hosts’ next possession gave them their first lead of the night, 57-56 with 3 minutes to go in third quarter.
In a curious turn of events, Milan never led again, even though Barcelona never led by more than 4 points.
“The last quarter finished 10-11 and we played good defense in the last situation”, said coach Joan Penarroya after the win. His team entered round 7 ranked fourth in the league with 90.2 points, but won this battle with its defense. “I am happy because I think we improved on defense. We kept playing, insisting on playing good defense, and I think it is the first time that in the last quarter we allowed only 11 points.”
“We really want to improve our defense,” Satoransky explained. “That’s the main focus of what we want to improve. I think we stepped up in that category... The last quarter was 10-11, so you have to win it by big plays on defense, I think we did it for the first time this year.”
After a 15-point home loss against Zalgiris Kaunas, Barcelona now travels to Belgrade with a 4-3 record as it faces Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade. Milan will have its chance to bounce back, and improve from its 2-5 record, when it welcomes Paris Basketball.
