Valencia Basket 62-66 Barça: Parra leads blaugrana reaction
They had to dig deep to show a reaction in Valencia. Thanks in part to a fighting and powerful performance by Parra, Barça managed to get a 62-66 win at a tough place to go. It was a low scoring game in which defensive work helped stop an attack used to scoring freely in order to get back to winning ways.
Even start
Joel Parra was up for it at the Roig Arena. Neither side found scoring easy, albeit the home side managed to go up by three (11-8, min 7). Two triples by a lively Marcos (15-18, min 10) turned it around in the blaugranes' favour in the first quarter.
+11 for the blaugranes
Valencia were stunned when it went to 15-26 (min 12), helped by a triple by an inspired Clyburn. Still a lot of work to do though, as the home side made a concerted effort and came back to 33-35 just before the half-time buzzer, despite the best efforts of Clyburn, Parra and Cale, and a strong defensive mindset from the visitors.
The home side went +3 ahead after the break for the first time since early in the game. Barça kept their nerve as both sides were scoring baskets, but neither managed to pull away and top scorer Parra helped ensure it was a close 52-53 going into the final quarter.
Low scoring
Barça might have expected a late push, and buoyed by the fans, Valencia took their biggest lead yet at 58-53 (min 32). Still time to sort it out, though, as offensive rebounds and strong blaugrana defence were countering erratic shooting percentages – the blaugranes had only scored two after seven minutes of the final quarter.
Parra leads team to victory
Vesely, Parra and Clyburn dug deep and set the team on the road to victory. With a few seconds left, Barça went ahead again through a triple by the number 21 after an offensive rebound to make it 62-64. FC Barcelona then held on to the lead and the number 44 made a key recovery to win this tough game 62-66.
The win puts an end to four straight losses for Barça. Now time to look forward to the Clásico against Real Madrid at the Palau Blaugrana on March 22. Let's go, Barça!
GAME STATS
Valencia Basket 62
Barça 66
Valencia Basket: Badio (-), Puerto (8), Reuvers (3), Pradilla (8) and Thompson (7) - starting five - Sako (12), Costello (-), Montero (11), Key (5), De Larrea (-) and Moore (8)
Barça: Satoransky (3), Punter (3), Cale (3), Parra (14) and Vesely (11) -starting five - Willy Hernangómez (2), Fall (-), Norris (4), Marcos (6), Brizuela (7) and Clyburn (13)
Quarters: 15-18; 18-17 // 19-18; 10-13
Referees: Ilija Belosevic, Mehdi Difallah and Saso Petek