Barcelona responds to Olympiacos and wins game 2 at the Palau Blaugrana, bringing the series to 1-1. The final score, 77-69, was set after a game made up of partials and double-parties, but which almost always saw the home team ahead, led by an extraordinary Jabari Parker, author of 24 points, and a moving Jan Vesely, who grabbed 7 offensive rebounds which proved crucial for the Catalans. Now the series is at 1-1: meet on Tuesday 30 April in Piraeus for game 3.
The match report
Balanced first minutes at the Palau Blaugrana, where changes in leadership in the score followed one another (14-12 Barca after 3″), with Alec Peters unleashed among the Greeks (he scored the team’s first 10 points). Then comes the first push from the home team: a 9-0 run scored by the Jabari Parker – Willy Hernangomez pair, who scored three consecutive baskets in transition, all with the additional free throw (23-12). The first quarter ends at 27-14 with a dunk at the end from a wild Parker, while only Peters was among the guests.
In the second period, Bartzokas’ team tries to mend the gap with a 6-0 run from Moses Wright, before conceding a triple from Tomas Satoransky which brings the Catalans back to +10 after 3′ (30-20). After two scores on each side, Shaq McKissic’s tsunami was unleashed: 8-0 and a burst of energy also for his teammates to get back to -4 (34-30). Nikola Kalinic scores a triple to make it +7 and Vesely scores four consecutive points to push Olympiacos back (41-30). In the last two minutes of the first half with yet another partial the guests got closer: triple by Thomas Walkup and nailed by Wright for 41-35. Two baskets in the perimeter on each side, one by Vesely (8 points) and one by Petrusev send the teams to the locker rooms at 43-37 for the Catalans.
Upon returning for the second half, Barca began with a 5-0 from a wild Parker to return to +11 (48-37) only to be immediately canceled out by a counter-partial by the Greeks closed with a triple from Luke Sikma (48-42 ). A basket with a foul by an infallible Peters but little looked for by his teammates (5/6 from the field) and a triple by Williams-Goss bring Oly back to -2 (52-50). The former Real Madrid player himself responded to Parker’s dunk, which came after yet another rebound from a heroic Vesely, with a 5-0 (three-pointer and penetrating basket) which gave him the lead for the first time since the first quarter (54 -55). The factor for Barcelona are the rebounds in attack which allow them to close the third period with their noses ahead: two consecutive baskets from Hernangomez set the score at 60-57 after 30′.
The fourth quarter begins with both defenses very physical: three fouls on each side and only two points scored by Olympiacos (60-59) in the first three minutes. Barca broke free from beyond the arc: two consecutive triples (Parker and a rediscovered Alex Abrines) and a mid-range jumper from Jokubaitis forced Bartzokas to time out (68-61). Abrines scores again from the arc responding to Peters’ dunk, bringing his lead to +8 (71-63). 4′ from the end, the fifth offensive rebound from a sensational Vesely allows Barcelona to gain extra possession which ends with Parker’s triple (74-64). To Satoransky’s counterattack dunk of +12, Peters, the last to surrender, responds with a personal 5-0 to bring his team back up -7 with 2 minutes to go (76-69). However, Olympiacos stopped scoring, with Barca extending possessions and closing the game at 77-69 (abrines freed for a technical foul). With this victory, scored by Jabari Parker (24 points) and Jan Vesely (7 offensive rebounds), the Catalans guarantee the series (1-1) two more rounds in Piraeus next week.
HERE are the complete statistics of the match
In the image Jabari Parker, photo from the Barcelona Basket Instagram profile
Matteo Orsolan
