By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona Lassa put on a furious first half against Darussafaka Tekfen and kept the distance until the end for a convincing 97-65 home win in Round 16 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Thomas Heurtel led the victors with 18 points (7/9 twos) in addition to Kevin Seraphin’s 12 points. Chris Singleton and Jaka Blazic added ten points each.
For Darussafaka, Toney Douglas showed most effort and was the only double-digit scorer for his team with game-high 23 points.
Barcelona was completely ready for the game and showed great energy and focus right off the bat. Singleton’s triple gave them a double-digit lead after six minutes and they increased it to the 27-point margin at halftime (54-27). Their first-half dominance could also be seen in the PIR numbers as they registered 75 in comparison to Darussafaka’s 15 and most of it came from the hosts’ paint control (27 rebounds compared to 9).
“We couldn’t start the game the way we wanted, especially defensively. They could find all kind of scores and we couldn’t resist. We felt this in our offense as well. When our offense got sloppy they had chances for early breaks”, Selcuk Ernak explained.
The second half was more balanced but Barca still had an upper hand and increased the distance to as much as 37 points (84-47) early in the fourth. Darussafaka managed to soften the blow a bit before the end but nonetheless, Barcelona recorded a big win.
Svetislav Pesic was pleased with his team’s performance: “The team played excellent defense in the first 20 minutes. We controlled the game, and it is difficult to finish the first half with plus-27 and repeat it one more time, to find a new effort. But in general, I am satisfied with our game, how we played. It is always a good feeling to win the first game in a new year. As always, we have to think about the next game.”
Barcelona improved to 9-7 keeping the sixth place while Darussafaka stayed alone at the bottom with a 2-14 record.
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague