FC Barcelona Regal danced over Asseco Prokom 45-76
FC Barcelona Regal kept its perfect record on Thursday night thanks to a clear 45-76 road win at Asseco Prokom. The guests led by 10 at the break but a 2-12 run to start the third period broke the game open for good. Barca stands at the top of Group D with a 7-0 record and already a berth in the Top 16. On the other hand, Prokom remains the only winless team in the competition at 0-7 and is out of the race for the Top 16. Victor Sada led the way for the winners with his best Euroleague scoring performance ever for 17 points, including 3 of 3 triples, Erazem Lorbek added 15 points and 8 boards and Kosta Perovic chipped in with 10. For Asseco Prokom, only Lukasz Seweryb scored in double digits with his 10 points.
FC Barcelona Regal's big men started dominating in offense as Kosta Perovic and Erazem Lorbek soon had points for Barca. Adam Lapeta, on the other hand, was
themost active man for Asseco Prokom as Jerel Blassingame fed him an alley-oop for 5-6. Chuck Eidson soon replied with a three but Lukasz Seweryn hit a layup
with his back to the basket that made it 7-9 as the teams went out the court for a timeout. Asseco Prokom was opting for a static offense but the lack of
ball movement didn't allow them to find many shot situations as Perovic slammed the ball for 7-11. However, Prokom was doing fine in defense also and the
guests were not that comfortable in offense either while on the other end Donatas Motiejunas lifted a layup for 11-12. Two free throws by Fedor Dmtriev
allowed the hosts to jump ahead for the first time, 13-12, but Victor Sada soon blasted a three and Oliver Lafayette responded with a free throw to close the
first period, 14-14.
The second quarter started with Prokom also having problems to find a fluid offense while five straight points by Barcelona, including a three by Joe Ingles,
for 14-19 forced the hosts' first timeout in the period. Lapeta showed some signs of life for the hosts but Sada was all heart and soul now for Barca. He
moved the ball well in offense and hit a three, and then he pressed hard in defense and had a steal to finish slamming off the Ingles assist for a 19-28
Barcelona lead. A new Ingles free throw made it a double-digit game until Przemyslaw Zamojski blasted a three for Prokom. It was just a mirage however as
Barcelona had the patience in offense to move the ball and find the best option for the shot, resulting in a 0-7 that made it 24-36 again entering the last
minute of the second period. Asseco Prokom waited on the last play and it paid off as Lapeta tipped the ball in for the 26-36 Barcelona edge at the break.
The second half started with a 2-8 Barcelona run commanded by Lorbek for 28-44, as the guests made a good work of sealing the paint off Asseco Prokom attackers to leave the hosts with scarce points. The Barca defense worked like clockwork while on the other end Perovic hit free throws and Mickeal penetrated for a layup making it 2-12 and a 28-48. Lapeta manaed to tip in a loose ball for the hosts but Ingles killed all hopes for the hosts with a three to keep Barcelona far away, 30-53, 2:30 minutes left into the period. The guests had a new 0-6 run to close the third period with a clear 30-59 after a 4-23 partial score in the quarter.
Sada kept improving his best performance ever in the Euroleague with a three to open the last period, but Seweryn didn't lower his guard and stole the ball for an easy fastbreak. Barcelona's defense was relentless despite the lead, and Eidson blasted a new three in the other end for 32-65. The game entered the last minutes as neither team relaxed for one bit, but despite Asseco's efforts, Barca kept scoring and maintained the big lead to keep its perfect record one more week and eliminate Prokom from the competition in the process.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Euroleague.net