FC Barcelona 101-102 Bayern: Very tough night
A really tough blow to take as Barça lost 101-102 to Bayern, in a game lost at the death, with the team doing what they could to overcome the effects of losing Chimezie Metu to a Achilles tendon injury in the third quarter.
Offense in control
The situation is so tight in the table that every game is almost a final and both sides came into the game with 17 wins and 13 losses. All the same, the defences were very evident during the first quarter as the score was 28-30.
Parker (9) and Hernangómez (7) led the blaugranes to a perfect 10/10 from two pointers in the first quarter, while the Germans scored 4/6 triples and an inspired Napier saw the visitors take a slight lead. Metu began to show, even into the second quarter, but then Bayern scored ten without reply to go from 36-37 to 36-47.
Punter before the break
The lead was significant but Kevin Punter had something to say, taking the team to two triples and a gift for Joel Parra, and the lead was down to one (55-56). Barça were looking fine in attack, but needed to tighten up in defence. The third quarter was now to and fro with the lead changing hands, but the toughest blow was about to come.
Palau crowd impacted by Metu injury
There seemed no danger at all, but Chimezie Metu unfortunately fell to the floor, having ruptured his right Achilles tendon when placing his weight on that leg. The Palau crowd fell silent, clearly impacted by what had happened, but then sung the player's name as he had to be helped off the court.
Proud reaction
The intensity had obviously dropped but there was all to play for (77-76) with 10 minutes to go. Metu was another incentive for Barça to leave it all on the court, Anderson scored a triple, and then up stepped Mamba with seven points, followed by Brizuela, to make it +11 for the largest blaugrana lead (94-83).
Tough ending
Bayern still had something to say, though, and Carsen Edwards in particular brought them back into the game. Barça were leading by one going into the final minute, Brizuela couldn't score and then a Parker foul saw two free throws that Lucic made (101-102). 17 seconds left, but Punter's triple didn't go in, and everyone at the Palau was left to rue a loss and a tough night on every level.
Game stats
Barça: 101
Bayern: 102
Barça: Satoransky (8), Punter (20), Parker (23), Parra (8), Hernangómez (13) - starting five - Anderson (10), Sarr (-), Brizuela (8), Metu (11), Fall (-), Abrines (0) and Keita (-).
Bayern: Weiler-Babb (16), Edwards (23), Voigtmann (4), Lucic (8), Harris (1) - starting five - Giffey (3), Napier (13), Kharchenkov (0), Obst (6), Bitim (-) and Brankovic (12).
Quarters: 28-30, 55-56, 77-76, 101-102.
Referees: Mehdi Difallah, Olegs Latisevs and Tomasz Trawicki.
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