By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona “locked” the first place in the 2020-21 EuroLeague regular season by beating Fenerbahce Beko 82 – 73 on the road. It was the sixth win for the Blaugrana in the last seven games.
Kyle Kuric scored 16 points on 4-5 triples while Brandon Davies had 13 points plus nine rebounds and Nikola Mirotic 12 points plus six boards. The visiting squad had a 2 – 11 finish in the third period to enter the final quarter up 58 – 62 and proceeded to retain an advantage for the rest of the match.
“We got back to our rules and our defensive identity,” Kuric said. “We played harder on defense and that led them to scoring fewer points. That got us going in the second half. But it was an important win. It’s really important to finish the season on a good note. We still have one more game. We want to finish strong and get ready for the playoffs.”
Fenerbahce went up 20 – 13 seven minutes into the game and that was the moment when Jan Vesely hurt his ankle in a collision with Leandro Bolmaro. The Czech big man was forced to exit the game and will undergo an MRI Saturday.
Nando De Colo had 19 points and Kyle O’Quinn scored a EuroLeague career-high 17 points, taking some extra minutes, especially in light of Vesely‘s exit. Their team fell behind in the second quarter and trailed 42 – 47 at halftime after the initial lead but once again went up in the third period.
Barcelona strengthened its defense allowing just two points by Fener in a span of six minutes to get ahead 58 – 67 early in the fourth period and never let their opponents to come close enough to become a threat.
Defense is the beginning of all
“Everything starts from defense” has become a sort of a cliche among coaches but when Sarunas Jasikevicius says it he absolutely means it.
“There was a period from the middle of the third to the beginning of the fourth that we were really solid defensively,” Jasikevicius said. “We were barely making any mental mistakes. And with some fouls at the end of the game, Fenerbahce was only able to score 31 points in the second half. This is exactly what changed the game. We must understand that we are a team that is trying to build everything from the defense, and hopefully we understand that. ”
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball