After a disastrous week, ended with two European defeats, this Friday Barça recovered the path of victory in the Euroleague. It was not easy against a Red Star that did not give up until the end, but Jasikevicius's team did not stop persisting and straightened the course, even recovering third place in the standings, ahead of Monaco.
A more ambitious Mirotic than usual in recent weeks and a Vesely who dominated the paint as in his best times, both with 21 points in their backpack, were the best band-aids against the destruction perpetrated by a sensational Campazzo, who did not stop putting the local triumph was in danger, adorned with 24 points.
Abrines's wrist gave the starting signal to the duel, more than hot for the Mallorcan throughout the evening. But from the beginning a very intense Red Star was seen, with all the energy that Dusko Ivanovic transmitted non-stop from the band. To add a victory to Barça he had to show his most intense face.
The first quarter ended without big differences for either team, but the start of the second was very bad for Barça. Petrusev finished off a 2-10 start to the set to give the Serbs the maximum (20-25, minute 13). A timeout by Jasikevicius partly fixed the mess and a Barça team was then seen to be much more plugged in.
Between Mirotic, Vesely and Abrines, who went into the break with four triples without a miss, they widened to 40-31 with seconds to go. But the Belgrade team gritted their teeth and managed to get close before halftime to draw a most attractive second half.
The locker room exit had two very different faces. Barça began by maintaining their outside success and was striking with three-pointers until Satoransky raised the score to 40-39 (minute 25). But then the figure of an old acquaintance burst into the Palau, ex-Madridista Facundo Campazzo, who with two three-pointers sealed a 0-9 win that brought Red Star back into the game. The 57-57 with which the penultimate horn of the game sounded confirmed this. The last ten minutes were going to decide everything.
Barça tried to decide on the fast track and came out very plugged in, signing a 12-2 run that put victory on track. But a needy Red Star was going to persist until the end. Campazzo seized the baton of the duel and signed an exceptional display, with 24 points included, which pushed the blaugrana team to the limit. Jokubaitis and a Vesely who dominated the paint as in his best times sentenced with the clock dying. The victory stayed to sleep in the Palau.
85. Barça (18 22 17 28): Satoransky (13), Laprovittola (3), Abrines (12), Mirotic (21), Sanli (2) -initial team-, Da Silva (0), Paulí (0), Vesely (21), Kalinic (5), Tobey (0), Kuric (0) and Jokubaitis (8).
79. Estrella Roja (15 21 21 22): Campazzo (24), Vildoza (7), Lazarevic (0), Bentil (11), Martin (2) -initial team-, Mitrovic (11), Ivanovic (6), Markovic (6) and Petrusev (12).
Referees: Sreten Radovic (CRO), Carmelo Paternico (ITA) and Amit Balak (ISR). Without eliminated.
Incidents: match of day 29 of the Euroleague played at the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona before 7,160 spectators.
