The veteran forward nailed a career-high 7 triples, with the Catalan outfit dominating on both ends of the floor
Will Clyburn keeps turning back the clock as Barcelona outhustles Olympiacos
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 15 of 38
Regular Season
FC BarcelonaBAR
9885
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
Overview
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A week after pulling off a dominant display on the road at Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, Will Clyburn looked unwilling to take his foot off the gas as FC Barcelona hosted Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday night.
The veteran forward found his shooting rhythm early and never cooled off. Clyburn hit the ground running and made 2-of-2 triples in the opening stages to give Barcelona an 8-2 lead. He went on to drain a career-best 7 triples, ending the game on a season-high 28 points.
And it wasn’t just his shooting, as Clyburn's performance on both ends of the floor personified Barcelona’s relentless effort throughout the game. The hosts outrebounded Olympiacos 38-28 and netted 18 second-chance points after bringing down as many as 19 offensive boards.
They also bagged 9 steals, scored 21 points off Olympiacos’s 12 turnovers, and got out in transition with 12 points on the break.
In fact, Barcelona outhustled the Reds from the off, but what occurred in the third quarter will certainly have given Xavi Pascual plenty to like.
Barcelona outscored the Reds 30-17, with Clyburn drilling three triples and Kevin Punter joining the party with 11 points of his own. On the other end, they registered 4 steals by constantly getting in the passing lanes, leading Olympiacos into a collapse that saw Barcelona secure a 72-56 lead after 30 minutes.
Pascual’s side never looked back, netting as many as 98 points against an Olympiacos side that boasted the EuroLeague’s second-stingiest defense with an average of 81.8 points allowed heading into the game.
Afterward, Georgios Bartzokas summed up in just a few sentences the reason why Barcelona secured a well-earned 98-85 victory on Friday night.
“We had 19 defensive rebounds and they had 19 offensive,” Bartzokas said during the post-game press conference. “This is a part of the fighting spirit, a part of concentration, a part of staying in the game plan, what we think is important to compete in an away game against a team in shape. If you want to win it, first of all, you have to grab all the 50-50 balls, or at least half of them. Barcelona got all of them and finally won the game.”
Pascual’s return has brought a breath of fresh air to everyone at Palau Blaugrana, as Barcelona pulled off a second straight statement outing against a team aspiring to reach the Final Four.
As Clyburn stressed in his post-game flash interview, the players were locked in throughout, following Pascual’s plan to the letter on both ends of the floor.
“Good win,” he noted. “We came out and executed the game plan. Everybody did their part today. Everybody played together. Defensively we were great. We followed the plan, we executed it, and that’s what got us the win.”
Hence, Pascual couldn’t be anything but content by the way his players treated the contest, admitting that what his staff details in practice was translated into Friday’s clash.
“We are working hard every day and the team is always ready to follow the strategies that we try to work in every practice,” he told EuroLeague TV. “I feel proud of them from the first day, the way they are working.”
In its bid to record a fourth straight win for the first time this season, Barcelona is set to open the upcoming double-round week with a game away at Paris Basketball. Hustle mode is in full force and with Clyburn turning back the clock week in, week out, the Catalans have no reason to fear anyone.
