The Palau Blaugrana demonstrated for the umpteenth time why the court factor is important in the Euroleague for Barça. The old and magical Barcelona pavilion created the necessary atmosphere at the ideal moment, when the Blaugrana seemed lost in the final minutes, to lift Roger Grimau’s team towards a key victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv (92-89). A three-pointer from Laprovittola with five seconds remaining saved a Barcelona team that maintains, with one game remaining, fourth place, the last one that gives home advantage in the quarterfinals, and could finish third on the penultimate day if Panathinaikos loses in Munich.
As if it were a nod to their most die-hard fans, the Blaugrana did not score their first basket until after the first minute, in which the cheering stands were silent in protest of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The Mossos d’Esquadra prohibited the entry of a banner with the motto “No to genocide”, a message that the loudest sector of the fans shouted at the top of their lungs after the initial 60 seconds. The protest coincided with the first points of the Barcelona fans, which gave way to an exchange of baskets. An inspired Willy Hernangómez seemed to open a gap (17-10), but between Dibartolomeo, Tamir and Baldwin, all adding three, they equalized the score at the end of the first quarter (19-19).
The dynamic did not change at the beginning of the second game, with the Israelis showing their multiple offensive resources, especially from the perimeter. Maccabi, which is seventh in the table and arrived in the Catalan capital after six straight victories, began to score without opposition. Rivero and Cleveland threatened to break the game against a Barça without response (27-37). Abrines then appeared to command the local reaction. The Mallorcan scored three triples, the third to return command to his team before the break (44-43).
Barça continued without good collective feelings after the restart. Thick in attack and not very forceful in defense, the Blaugrana only took off when Parker entered a trance. The American, missing until that moment, without points, hit three triples in a row that shot the lead up to eight points (60-52). Barça lived on flashes. Another spark from Laprovittola from the 6.75 line raised the lead to ten points, but a layup at the buzzer in the third period by Baldwin, MVP of the month of March, anticipated another Israeli victory in the final set (70-63).
Two easy baskets by Maccabi forced Grimau to call an unsuccessful timeout. Two losses by Ricky Rubio were intertwined with two triples by Dibartolomeo and another by Blatt (80-85). With more heart than game, supported by a Palau that increased the decibels, the Blaugrana rose from the canvas with a triple from Abrines that gave them the initiative back on the scoreboard. But a jump shot by Baldwin, the leading scorer with 22 points, left everything in Laprovittola’s hands on the penultimate possession. The Argentine, happy in the hot moments, pulled out a long three-pointer out of his hat that sealed a vital victory and blew up a Palau team that is aiming to be a key factor in the playoffs. All that remains is to finish the job on the last day away from home against Villerbaunne.
Barça (19 25 26 22): Satoransky (2), Laprovittola (15), Kalinic (4), Da Silva (10), Vesely (17) -starting team-, Hernangómez (9), Rubio (4), Parker ( 14), Jokubaitis (-), Abrines (17) and Nnaji (-).
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (19-24-20-26): Brown (6), Baldwin (22), Cohen (-), Colson (7), Nebo (14) -starting team-, Webb (5), Blatt (9), Rivero (8), Cleveland (6), DiBartolomeo (12) and Sorkin (-).
Referees: Damir Javor (ESL), Sasa Pukl (ESL) and Robert Vyklicky (CHE). No eliminated.
Incidents: matchday 33 of the Euroleague played at the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona before 7,258 spectators.
