Barcelona suffered their sixth defeat in the Euroleague against Fenerbahçe (72-71), the second under the orders of Xavi Pascual who had won everything since his fateful debut against Efes in November. In the Spanish duel of the day, Valencia Basket surpassed Baskonia (91-81) and recovered second place in the Regular League in a Roig Arena that appreciates and illuminates the play of its team.
Xavi Pascual’s men took the stage first and, at the Ülker Sports Arena in Istanbul’s Asian region, they led Fenerbahçe from the opening rounds. Turkey’s maximum advantage, nine points, was reduced just before halftime, when Barça even had the opportunity to take the lead before rearranging thoughts in the locker room.
Barça’s balance only tipped in the final stretch of the third quarter, when the offensive success of Miles Norris, a versatile interior who seems to have finally found his place in the culé scheme, and the excellent outside shot of Darío Brizuela, more refined than ever, energized Barça before entering the last quarter.
Fenerbahçe reacted, under the intense leadership of Sarunas Jasikevicius, did not lose face from the shock and, with everything tied seconds before the final whistle, 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 handcuffed a Baskonia from the start with no response to the offensive torrent of Pedro Martínez’s students. Taronja’s team enjoyed a 21-point lead midway through the second quarter, but Frenchman Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, the Euroleague’s leading scorer at 20.1 points per game, helped cut the lead to 11 before the break.
The home team recovered the rebound, but a disconnection, another, perhaps the only evil attributable to Valencia this season, gave life to Baskonia, this time boosted by the success of Markus Howard. However, this was not enough for the Vitorians to reach the end with a chance of achieving their first away victory in the Euroleague. Victory for Pedro Martínez’s team, necessary after last week’s hostile crash in Jerusalem.
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