A 14-0 run bridging the third and the fourth period proved crucial for the hosts
Barcelona goes up a gear to beat ALBA, 88-73
Game Report
3 Mins read
FC Barcelona celebrated its first home win of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season on Friday night as it beat the visiting ALBA Berlin 88-73 at Palau Blaugrana.
Despite leading from the very beginning, the hosts couldn’t build a big advantage and saw ALBA take a 53-54 edge late in the third period. However, a 14-0 run at that moment, led by Dario Brizuela and Alex Abrines, turned the tables and put Barcelona in a commanding position the rest of the way. Barcelona improved to 1-1 while ALBA remained winless after two games.
Brizuela led Barcelona in scoring with 18 points in just 15 minutes. Kevin Punter followed with 14 and Jan Vesely had 10 for the winners. Martin Hermannsson paced ALBA with 13 points and 5 assists, while Will McDowell-White provided 12 points in 13 minutes in the losing effort.
The home team had an impressive start as Punter, Jabari Parker and Vesely combined as part of an 8-0 run in the first two minutes. With both teams running as crazy on both ends, Yanni Wetzell and Matteo Spagnolo took over on offense for ALBA, providing 4 points each to prevent Barcelona from running away with the game too early, 11-8. Khalifa Koumadje had an immediate impact when he stepped onto the court and he made it a one-point game soon after the first timeout. Barcelona found some relief from long distance, extending its lead to 19-12, but the visitors refused to back down and kept using Koumadje on both ends to stay close, 19-16, after 10 minutes.
The difference remained close early in the second period. Barcelona tried to make things more difficult on defense and forced some ALBA turnovers, but it had to wait until Chimezie Metu took over on offense with six points in a row, including a monster left-handed alley-oop dunk, to build a 28-21 edge. Nico Laprovittola joined the party and fed Willy Hernangomez twice to keep ALBA at arm’s length, 33-26, midway through the second quarter. Brizuela then came up big with a couple of buckets to make it 37-29, but once again ALBA’s resilience aborted the hosts’ attempts to pull away. A couple of buzzer-beaters, one from deep by Schneider – ALBA’s first triple to that point – and one layup by Wetzell saw the first half close with the Germans trailing 43-37.
Justin Anderson’s presence in the starting lineup for the second half gave Barcelona an extra boost on defense, while Vesely came up big on offense to construct a double-digit lead, 47-37, early after the intermission. Hermannsson came to the rescue with five consecutive points and a no-look assist that allowed ALBA hold on, 50-44. Laprovittola showed up from behind the arc to extend the gap to nine points, but he found no help from his teammates and Barcelona suddenly ground to a halt. A 0-10 run led by Trevion Williams and McDowell-White brought the guests back into the game and even allowed them to take the lead for the first time, 53-54, after 28 minutes. That’s when Brizuela decided to step up, scoring seven points in a row to launch a 10-0 spurt that helped Barcelona grab hold of the wheel at the end of the third period, 63-54.
Abrines opened the fourth with another triple of his own, while Brizuela remained hot and nailed one more jumper to make it 68-54 early in the last stanza. Wetzell tried to break the trend from the line, but Brizuela and Barcelona were already soaring. Brizuela struck again from downtown and scored a fast-break layup before receiving a standing ovation when he headed the bench with 18 points and his team clearly in charge, 78-64, with less than six minutes remaining. Despite ALBA’s efforts to gain some momentum again, Barcelona had already built confidence and just needed to swap baskets here and there to reach crunch time comfortably ahead, 82-71. The final blow came from the hands of Punter, who nailed back-to-back threes that put the game to bed.
