Winning away to Maccabi Tel Aviv is not something any team can do, but tonight Regal Barça managed to overcome a poor start to the game and a vociferous home support. And also a quite unnecessary foul by Anderson that meant Barça surrendered the chance to win in 40 minutes, although thankfully that error mattered for nothing in the end.

Utmost tension

Nobody has a good time at the Nokia Arena, where Maccabi, a fantastic side at the best of times, are better than ever. There was more than just the win at stake, there was also rivalry and the chance to top the group table, hence the atmosphere in the pavilion was extraordinarily tense both on and off the court. FCB got off to an uneasy start, in which the strength on the paint of Schortsanitis, some great 3-point shooting from the Israeli side and some speedy transitions drove Pascual into a frenzy.

Maccabi like to go out strong, and in just five minutes, Barça had already conceded 16 points. Perkins, Pargo and Eliyahu were all on top form, and Barça just couldn’t get into their rhythm, and things would have been a lot worse had they not been so on top of the offensive rebounds.

Xavi Pascual’s first timeout seemed to work, and a former Maccabi man, Morris, issued the first warning to the Nokia Arena with back to back threes, but further scoring from Perkins and Pargo ended the period at 24-16.

Maccabi didn’t seem to have lost any of that energy in the second period, but Regal Barça had regrouped in defence and managed to weather the storm.
Perovic, Ingles, Morris and Anderson all helped the side regain its confidence in a slow scoring period that ended with David Blatt’s side still ahead (39-30) but with the game still wide open.

Stuff of champions

The real change in the second half was the emergence of Navarro, who hadn’t scored in the first, but got 17 in the second, including three almost consecutive triples. Morris (19 points) was also to be commended as Regal Barça narrowed the gap. A Ricky free throw levelled the game for the first time at 54-54, but two threes from Pargo meant Barça were back to -6 with ten minutes to play (60-54).

Anderson and Lorbek then got threes to get things back level again, and a terrific three from Anderson finally put Regal Barça ahead for the first time. Maccabi were right against the ropes.

The huge Schortsanitis took matters into his own hands and did enough to keep Maccabi in the hunt, and when Perkins made it 71-72 things were set up for a nail-biting finish. Anderson missed, then Maccabi missed three times before a Lorbek free throw looked to have done the job. But then came Anderson’s error and the game went into overtime.

Regal Barça started added time with a 6-1 streak and managed to ride the tension of the next five minutes to seal an important victory. Once again, Regal Barça showed they know how to deliver when it really matters, and return from Israel knowing that they will top the group.