Barcelona passes like a cyclone to the semifinals of the ACB League | sports

The enormous restlessness and discomfort that gripped Barça during most of the development of the three games in the quarterfinals of the League against Joventut disappeared with the gale of play that unfolded in the third quarter of the final duel. Kuric and Davies officiated the tremendous takeoff of Barça, which left the game seen for sentence with a partial of 37-14. The 30-point advantage he accumulated, 82-52, made the last act superfluous. Barça got rid of Joventut that had bothered him so much up to that moment. The Barça team will play the semifinals of the championship against Tenerife.

The offensive explosion came unexpectedly, because Barca’s outside game had not worked and neither had he shown much solvency against an uncomfortable opponent who was making his life difficult. But Davies broke down, with baskets from inside and outside, and Kuric threw five triples that made a target and added to the one he had already scored before. The 11 points of the Philadelphia center and the 15 of the Indiana forward in that stretch swept the Joventut. He had come to the break at a disadvantage, 45-38, but with the feeling of being in a position to rush his options in a possible tight end of the game. There was no such.

Pau Gasol, who will turn 41 next month and who had barely played 10 games in the Endesa League since his return to the Barça team, made a difference in the first half. Joventut suffered a lot to defend inside the zone. Calathes, who returned to the Barça team after the sprained ankle he suffered last week in the Euroleague Final Four, shook the green-black defense and connected with Pau Gasol. The surgical precision with which he sought and found spaces and advantages near the rim was lethal for Joventut, who contained Mirotic with a defense of four in the zone and with Morgan glued to the Montenegrin. Pau Gasol finished with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists and a block in 12 minutes.

The success from the maximum distance was missed again in both teams during that first half. Joventut returned the coin to Barça and made a profit especially from incursions and doubled balls within the area. Dimitrijevic and Brodziansky finished their penetrations, reversals and cuts. But in the third quarter, Barça took much better advantage of the spaces left by the defense in the Joventut zone. Davies took advantage of them, who finished with 13 points, and Kuric, with 22 points and an impeccable six of six in the triples.

Barça, 94; Youth, 73

Barça: Hanga (2), Higgins (10), Abrines (7), Mirotic (5), Davies (13) -starting team-; Calathes (5), Claver (0), Bolmaro (9), Smits (7), Pau Gasol (14), Kuric (22) and Oriola (0).

Youth: Bassas (8), Pau Ribas (8), Parra (3), Morgan (2), Tomic (17) -starting team-; Dimitrijevic (10), López-Arostegui (2), Brodziansky (11), Ventura (5) and Birgander (7).

Partial: 25-21, 20-17, 37-14 and 12-21.

Referees: Conde, Calatrava and Padrós.

Palau Blaugrana. About 1,000 spectators.

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