FC Barcelona 100–71 Maccabi: Convincing win

Barça basketball came up big with a 100-71 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Palau Blaugrana in Round 25 of EuroLeague regular season play on Wednesday.

After a close first half, the Catalans pulled away from their Israeli guests after the break, playing dominant ball with impressive three-point shooting (16) and solid team play. Kevin Punter led the charge with 28 points, keeping Barça’s momentum rolling as they move into their next game against Olympiacos on Friday, also at home.

It was a tight contest early on, with Maccabi keeping things close, largely thanks to the contributions of Sorkin and Jokubaitis. But Barça started to take control in the second, with Punter hitting a three and Parker adding a basket to give them their first real lead at 39-32. By halftime, they’d extended their advantage to 42-36.

After the break, Barça stayed locked in, and the lead steadily grew to around 10 points (61-51). A strong push to finish the third quarter gave them a 14-point cushion (74-60). In the final ten minutes, they put the game out of reach, with Punter knocking down another three to get the difference up to 30 points, eventually sealing the 100-71 win that leaves them 14-11 and eighth in the table.

MATCH STATS

BARÇA, 100
MACCABI TEL AVIV, 71

Barça: Punter, Satoransky, Fall, Abrines, Parker, Anderson, Sarr, Brizuela, Metu, Willy Hernangómez, Núñez, Parra.

Maccabi: Sorkin, Rivero, Randolph, Jokubaitis, Blatt, Shayok, Menco, Mayer, Rayman, Dibartolomeo, Cohen, Williams.

Periods: 28-26, 14-10, 32-24, 26-11

Referees: Robert Lottermoser, Ioannis Foufis, Gentian Cici.