Barcelona – Red Star 82-70: Played to win

At this point in the season, Barcelona cannot… negotiate home wins. Saronas Yassikevitsios’ team impressed in the first half and quickly ‘cleared’ the game with the Red Star (82-70) to remain at the top of the table with four games remaining before the regular season finals in the EuroLeague.

On the other hand, the Red Star knew in advance how difficult this game was, lost but stayed in the trick (and more) to qualify for the playoffs.

The race

The hosts made sure to show early on that they don’t feel like… much much. Nikola Mirotic was impeccable in the shots in the kid (he had 13 points with 5/5 shots and 2/2 shots) and combined with everyone’s remarkable accuracy (9/12 two points, 3/4 three points) Barcelona didn’t takes a long time for +14 (31-17 in 13′) to arrive. A lead that could be extended even further until the break (47:32), now with more offensive threats.

The Red Star tried to turn the game around, or at least change the pace. And as much as Nate Walters and Nikola Kalinic missed, Ognjen Dobrich offered more. The sporty striker of the red and white made a career appearance at the Palau Blaugrana, beat his personal opponent in consecutive appearances and was the main reason for the narrow difference (67:59 in 32′) on the part of the red star, which now has the maximum of all offensive rebounds (he had 11 up to that point).

Saronas Yassikevitsios votes and a time-out followed as they completed the visitors’ counterattack. The gap never fell below eight points until the final, with Barcelona adding another win and remaining at the top of the EuroLeague.

THE REFEREES: Latisevs-Bisang-Travitsky.

THE TEN MINUTES: 22-15, 47-32, 65-51, 82-70.

BARCELONA (Jasikevicius): Davis 12 (5/6 two points, 0/1 three points, 2/2 shots, 6 rebounds), Exum 13 (3 steals), Martinez, Smith 8 (1), Hayes 4, Laprovitola 3 (1 /5 shots), Ambrines 2 (0/2 trebles), Kuric 3 (1), Yukobaitis 10 (3/3 shots, 2/2 shots, 5 assists), Mirotic 19 (7/7 twos, 1/3 trebles, 2/2 shots, 4 rebounds), Naji 2, Kalathis 6 (3/5 two points, 7 assists).

Red Star (Radonic): Lazarevic 4, Walters 4 (5 rebounds, 4 assists), Davidovic 2 (1/6 shots), Mitrovic 9 (3/6 two points, 3/3 shots, 6 rebounds), Lazic, Kalinic 5 (0 / 3 threes), Dobrich 17 (3/6 twos, 2/4 threes, 5/6 shots), Ivanovic 13 (1), Markovic 7 (1), White 4 (1/5 shot, 2/2 shots), Kuzmic 5.

Team Stats – Barcelona: 27/37 two points, 6/17 three points, 10/11 shots, 25 rebounds (21 defense + 4 offense), 21 assists, 11 steals, 12 errors, 4 blocks.

Group Stats – Red Star: 21/44 two points, 4/16 three points, 16/19 shots, 33 rebounds (17 defensive + 16 offensive), 15 assists, 6 steals, 15 errors, 2 blocks.

The next commitments of the two teams: In the following Teufelswoche, Barcelona play Alba (away) and Fenerbahce (home) respectively, while Red Star deliver a big game to qualify for the playoffs against Alba (away).