Barça 76-63 Casademont Zaragoza: A win to become leaders

The Barça basketball team took a good win over Casademont Zaragoza by 76-63 in the league to open a week with three fixtures, game against Bayern Munich (Euroleague) and Betis (ACB League) still to come. Great performances from Oriola and Laprovittola were the foundation for the victory which leaves the blaugranes with a 100% record so far in the league with five wins out of five. 

The team were also able to dedicate the win to Pau Gasol on the day that the Barça legend announced his retirement. 

Dominance from the start

The Barça win was based on a solid team performance and some excellent three point shooting from the perimeter. Smits, Sanli and Kuric all nailed three pointers to give the home side a 25-16 lead after 10 minutes of the contest. In the second quarter Oriola gave Barça a 10 point lead at 33-23 but a fight back from Zaragoza saw them bring it back to 33-31. 

Nevertheless, Barça held their nerve and their intensity on defence helped them restore a healthy advantage with Hayes-Davies and then Smits scoring to make it 54-44 after 30 minutes. 

The gap was too big a one for Zaragoza to come back and a three pointer from Laprovittola gave the blaugranes a 71-51 lead with just four minutes left. Barça eased back slightly and in the end the 76-63 win was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.  

MATCH STATS 

Barça, 76

Casademont Zaragoza, 63

Barça: Hayes-Davis (11), Oriola (10), Higgins (6), Mirotic (6), Calathes (5) –starting five- Sanli (7), Sergi Martínez (3), Smits (7), Laprovittola (11), Kuric (3), Jokubaitis (6), Caicedo (1).

Casademont Zaragoza: Mobley (4), Okoye (14), Vanwijn (2), Vilà (7), Sipahi (-) –starting five- San Miguel (4), McLean (12), Radoncic (10), Waczynski (3), Aleix Font (-), Hlinason (4), García (3).