Abrines leads Barcelona to big win in Belgrade

FC Barcelona Regal overcame a slow start, and with big second and third quarters pulled away to beat Partizan NIS Belgrade 64-82 in Hala Pionir on Thursday night. It was the third consecutive win for Barcelona, which improved to 4-2 and a share of the second place in Group A, while Partizan dropped to 1-5 and fifth place. The hosts had an early 14-6 advantage, but led by Alex Abrines, Barcelona rallied and took control midway through the second quarter. After leading 32-38 at halftime, the visitors started the third quarter with a 2-14 run and never looked back. Abrines finished with 19 points, and Jacob Pullen had 13 for Barcelona. Maciej Lampe scored 9, while Kostas Papanikolaou had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with a career-high 24 points for Partizan, Tarence Kinsey scored 11, Dragan Milosavljevic 10 points, while Joffrey Lauvergne collected 9 points plus 12 rebounds.

First quarter: Partizan goes in front with 9-0 run

Maciej Lampe banked in a shot from close range to start the scoring, before Tarence Kinsey made a runner-plus-foul to open the hosts' account. Kinsey made another bucket, but Tomic scored a layup and a put-back for 5-6. Dragan Milosavljevic drove for a layup in traffic, and Kinsey raced for a fastbreak layup to help put Partizan back in front. Partizan's defense held the visitors without a basket for almost four minutes, while a three-pointer from Bogdanovic and a short jumper from Milosavljevic made it 14-6. Tomic snapped a 9-0 run from close range, before Abrines hit from downtown, but Lauvergne hit a long jump shot in the final seconds of the quarter to make it 17-11 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Abrines carries Barcelona in front

Kostas Papanikolaou opened the second quarter with a fastbreak layup, before a steal from Barcelona’s more aggressive defense forced Coach Dusko Vujosevic to call a timeout only 44 seconds into the period. Another fastbreak layup from Papanikolaou tied it at 17-17. Bogdanovic drove for a layup on the other end, before a corner jumper from Abrines and an easy layup from Victor Sada put Barcelona in front 19-21. After Dejan Musli made a tough turnaround jumper, Bostjan Nachbar scored from long range for Barcelona, but Bogdanovic made a basket-plus-foul for the hosts and 24-24. Abrines continued to torment the Partizan defense, driving the baseline for a reverse layup and sinking a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, 24-29. But Partizan stroke back with a 6-0 run as Kinsey made a baseline shot, before Bogdanovic made back-to-back jumpers. However, Pullen nailed a three-pointer for the visitors to go ahead 30-32, and after Boris Dallo made a layup for Partizan, a Juan Carlos Navarro sank a three-pointer and Pullen beat the buzzer with a driving layup for 32-38 halftime lead.

Third quarter: Barca pulls away immediately after the break

Lauvergne started the third quarter with a layup, but Pullen hit a three-pointer, Tomic a hook-shot, and Lampe a layup in traffic for 34-45. Gjorgje Gagic ended a run with a put-back, but Papanikolaou answered with a driving layup, and Abrines sank a triple that made it 36-50 after only three minutes in the second half. After a big put-back dunk from Joey Dorsey extended the lead to 16 points, Partizan tried with a zone defense that briefly disrupted the visitors’ rhythm, while Gagic and Kinsey scored from close range. But Dorsey muscled his way inside twice, including a monster dunk, and Marcelinho Huertas made a triple for a 20-point lead. Before the quarter’s end, Bogdanovic drove for a layup and Papanikolaou had a baseline dunk at the other end, making it 44-64 going into the final quarter.

Fourth quarter: Visitors close it out

Milosavljevic made a layup and Dorsey answered with an alley-oop dunk. A three-pointer from Bogdanovic cut it to 50-66, and Lampe made a floater against the zone defense. Bogdanovic hit another three-pointer. Lampe and Lauvergne traded put-backs, before consecutive layups from Abrines made it 55-74. With game out of hand, and most of the starters on the bench, Bogdanovic sank a triple for the hosts, but Mario Hezonja and Pullen hit a three-pointers for the visitors to close out the game.