Barça derails in Valencia

BarcelonaNot every day is Sunday. Barça could not repeat Thursday's comeback and lost against Valencia Basket (102-75). The orange team, which managed to lead by 36 points, tied the final with a collective exhibition (1-1). Kevin Punter, who was disqualified, and Will Clyburn, two of the great references of the blaugrana squad, ended up frustrated by the defensive variations designed by Pedro Martínez. Between the two of them, they only managed to score 4 points.

"We were not able to react and we collapsed, but we have to get up," analyzed Xavi Pascual. The coach, who left Juan Núñez and Miles Norris out of the squad, recovered Tomás Satoransky, but could only use Juani Marcos occasionally due to an injury. Pedro Martínez, for his part, had Josep Puerto available.

The tactical traps introduced by Martínez altered the attack of a Barça team that could not score any of the first eight shots it attempted. The blaugrana team took almost six minutes to open the scoring against an inspired Valencia Basket (11-0). The home team used their dominance of the rebound to impose the rhythm that suited them best. Furthermore, Yankuba Sima had a great impact on the game (26-11).

Valencia Basket's lead grew to 17 points at Barça's worst moment (35-18). The difference in pace was evident in a cruel stretch of the game for the blaugrana team. When the scenario had the worst diagnosis, the culer team reacted with a 2-13 run (37-31). Nico Laprovittola's vision improved the attack of Xavi Pascual's men, who reached halftime with the feeling that they could repeat Thursday's comeback (45-38).

The second half was one-sided. Barça conceded a 2-10 run at the start of the third quarter, when the home lead soared again (55-40). Far from speculating with the score, Valencia Basket continued to accelerate their game (69-44). The taronja team accentuated the ball movement to highlight the mobility problems of the culer team (74-52).

Jean Montero strung together several meritorious plays. When Barça's disadvantage reached 29 points with five minutes left (90-61), the game was decided. Kevin Punter, frustrated after missing eight of his nine field goals, was disqualified. "When we broke the game in the third quarter, everyone gave it up for finished and that's why we ended up with a difference that isn't real," summarized Pedro Martínez.

The third game of the final will be played at the Palau Blaugrana this Monday (8 PM, DAZN).