On October 18, 2026, at the Palau Municipal d’Esports in Badalona, Ricky Rubio led Joventut to a 113-89 ACB victory over Barcelona. The final margin concealed a startling early reversal: Joventut had trailed by ten points before a 27-2 scoring run turned that deficit into a 15-point lead.
Rubio finished with 19 points and six assists, while Nicolas Laprovittola added 17 points and eight assists. The experienced guards helped turn an uncomfortable start into a convincing home derby win.
From 16-26 to 43-28
Both Mundo Deportivo’s match report and Badalona Comunicacio’s local account identify the same turning point. Barcelona led 26-16, but Joventut then scored 27 points while conceding only two. The scoreboard at the other end of that burst read 43-28 to the hosts.
The arithmetic captures the scale of the change. A ten-point deficit became a 15-point advantage, a 25-point swing in the margin. The 27-2 run stretched across the end of the first quarter and into the second, rather than belonging to one quarter alone.
Barcelona still led 26-23 at the first-quarter break. Joventut’s recovery had begun, but the home side only completed the reversal as the next period unfolded. Rubio was central to the surge, with the local report highlighting his influence during the run.
Barcelona recovered once before Joventut pulled away again
The early burst did not settle the contest. Barcelona reduced the gap to 49-45 by halftime, leaving only four points between the teams. That recovery matters when reading the final score: Joventut had to establish control again after the interval.
The hosts won the third quarter 33-23, taking an 82-68 advantage into the last ten minutes. They then added a 31-21 fourth quarter to finish 24 points clear. Those quarter totals appear in Mundo Deportivo’s report and agree with the checkpoints in Basketball Sphere’s account.
Joventut therefore scored 64 points to Barcelona’s 44 after halftime. The second-half margin was 20 points, extending what had been a relatively narrow lead at the break.
Rubio and Laprovittola supplied points and direction
The ACB’s official box score confirms Rubio’s 19-point, six-assist contribution and Laprovittola’s 17 points with eight assists. Basketball Sphere independently records those same totals. Together, the two guards produced 36 points and 14 assists.
They had substantial scoring support. Eli Ndiaye also finished with 17 points, Emir Sulejmanovic contributed 16 and Ludde Hakanson added ten. The official statistics and independent reports show an offense with several productive options.
For Joventut, the memorable number was the early 27-2 burst. It changed the direction of the derby, while the later scoring established the result: ten down in the first half, 24 ahead at the final buzzer.
Sources and further reading
- ACB – official game statistics
- Mundo Deportivo – independent match report
- Badalona Comunicacio – independent local match report
- Basketball Sphere – independent match report
