Higgins commands the triumph of Barça in the classic

Barça appeared to be a mentally stronger team than Real Madrid and bagged a league classic that allows them to equalize with the whites at the top of the table.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
02 January 2023 Monday 19:31
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Higgins commands the triumph of Barça in the classic

Barça appeared to be a mentally stronger team than Real Madrid and bagged a league classic that allows them to equalize with the whites at the top of the table. It would be just as unfair not to highlight the spectacular collective work of Jasikevicius's men as not to underline the proper name of Cory Higgins, the authentic architect of the assault, yet another, on the WiZink Center.

With his physical problems now a mere memory of the past, the Californian guard is once again the leader of this Barça. The man through whom all the balls pass at important moments. And, above all, the player who returns to decide matches, as in his best times, which seem to have flourished again.

With the classic equalized just born in the last quarter – a period in which Mirotic did not play for a minute – Higgins began to hit the Real Madrid hoop. He began to play balls, to chain penetrations brand of the house. It didn't matter if Tavares or Deck were in front, the ball was hugging the net over and over again. The American rose to 14 points only in that last set, baskets that explain the Barca triumph and that ended up making Chus Mateo's Madrid despair, who did not stop looking for alternatives to stop him without success.

A noteworthy piece of information was that until the last basket of the game, the work of Kalinic, all the Barça points in the last quarter were shared between two players: Higgins (14) and Laprovittola (9). In that same period, Real Madrid added up to seven different scorers.

The classic was a game with many acts, all of different depth, and many alternatives. In fact, no team was more than 9 points ahead.

The duel began with a scoring festival of those that the coaches do not like excessively, especially Jasikevicius. Yabusele and Vesely played a rebate and the score swelled non-stop. The defenses settled and in the second quarter they already began to prevail, drawing a more recognizable game. Barça committed many fouls but achieved its goal of stopping Madrid. A three-pointer from Llull's half sent the game to the locker room (44-42). The third quarter, on the other hand, closed with a 0-10 run for the Catalans, Da Silva's attacking rebounds invaluable, which allowed them to reach the last ten minutes with an advantage. There, Poirier equalized the forces at first, until Higgins dressed as a leader and sentenced.

78 - Real Madrid (26 18 13 21): William-Goss (5), Musa (14), Deck (8), Yabusele (14) and Tavares (18) -starting five-, Sergio Rodríguez (-), Abalde ( -), Cornelie (-), Causeur (2), Llull (5), Hezonja (1) and Poirier (10).

87 - Barça (28 14 20 25): Satoransky (4), Laprovittola (19), Kalinic (9), Mirotic (12), Vesely (11) -starting five-, Da Silva (7), Sanli (7), Abrines (-), Higgins (18) and Jokubaitis (-).

Referees: Carlos Peruga, Carlos Cortés and Jorge Martínez. No deleted.

Incidents: Match of the fourteenth day of the Endesa League played at the WiZink Center in Madrid before 11,187 spectators.