Barcelona suffered its sixth defeat against Fenerbahçe (72-71), the second under the orders of Xavi Pascual who had won everything since his fateful debut against Efes, back in November. In the Spanish duel of the day, Valencia Basket surpassed Baskonia (91-81) and regained second place in the regular League in a Roig Arena that enjoys and lights up with its team’s play.
They entered the scene earlier than at the Ülker Sports Arena, in the Asian region of Istanbul, leading Fenerbahçe from the opening stages. Turkey’s maximum advantage, nine points, was reduced just before half-time, when Barça even had the opportunity to take the lead before rearranging ideas in the locker room.
The balance of the Barça side did not tip until the final stretch of the third quarter, when the offensive success of Miles Norris, a versatile interior who seems to have finally found his role in the culé scheme, and the excellent outside shot of Darío Brizuela, more refined than ever, boosted Barça before entering the last quarter.
Fenerbahçe reacted, under the intense leadership of Sarunas Jasikevicius, did not lose face of the clash and, with everything tied just seconds before the final horn, had three free throws in the hands of Wade Baldwin to regain the advantage and seal the victory by a single point.
2,500 kilometers away, in the imposing Roig Arena, Valencia tied up a Baskonia team from the start with no answers to the offensive torrent of . The Taronja team enjoyed a 21-point lead midway through the second quarter, but Frenchman Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, the Euroleague’s top scorer with 20.1 points per game, did his part to reduce the lead to 11 before the break.
The local team recovered the rebound, but a disconnection, another one, perhaps the only evil that can be attributed to Valencia this season, gave life to Baskonia, this time boosted by the success of Markus Howard. It was not enough, however, for the Vitorians to reach the end with a chance of achieving their first away win in the Euroleague. Victory for Pedro Martínez’s team, necessary after last week’s hostile crash in Jerusalem.
