Barcelona also knows how to win without Mirotic

• Direct Narration and statistics

An infallible Rolands Smits, capable of scoring each and every one of the shots he tried (15 points, three triples and three shots of two, with a PIR of 23) and an implacable third quarter, with a 9-21 partial, were enough for him. to Barça to take a hard-fought victory against Valencia at La Fonteta (66-71).

The Catalans, with Sarunas Jasikevicius back in front from the bench and Kuric on the court, after the intervention he underwent in August to replace a plaque on his skull after being operated on for a brain tumor years ago, did not accuse this the absence of its great star, a Nikola Mirotic who has tested positive for COVID-19 and who seems, clearly, a collateral damage from the Barça visit to Saint Petersburg last Friday.

In this case, the locals were not helped by the great performance of Bojan Dubljevic (13 points, 20 PIR) to maintain a winning streak in the Euroleague that had its zenith in the duel against Real Madrid (77-93) .

The match began with an exchange of blows between two opponents apparently willing to sign a high-voltage duel.

The Catalans found their best argument in a

inspired

, while Valencia, for their part, had their best asset in Dubljevic.

Well shielded, yes, by the contributions of

and

.

The locals, with a 7-0 run, were not only able to reverse a very timid first lead from Jasikevicius's side, but also settled into a comfortable six-point lead in the light (15-9).

With a

who was loaded with his second staff in the third minute of play, it had to be the irruption of

that allowed the visitors to row against the current to tighten things on the scoreboard again to a 19-16 by the end of the first quarter.

A score that could have been a draw if Álex Abrines had succeeded in scoring a three-point shot in the last Barcelona attack.

At the start of the second period, on the other hand, the Mallorcan did not miss his opportunity and put an equalizer that would hardly be testimonial.

Valencia, with an eminently choral game, managed to continue leading on the scoreboard.

The Catalans only slightly overcame the difficulties that

team had put them

to close their attacks in the first quarter and continued to have their best argument in a slightly more diluted Smits, but author of two vital triples.

Davies, somewhat less accelerated, would also appear at specific moments to contribute his grain of sand to the whole.

And so, the fourth, perhaps less exciting in appearance than the first ten minutes of the game, went to rest with the locals two points up on the scoreboard (35-33) thanks, again, to the fact that the Catalans did not know take advantage of your option to put the tie in the bright.

The controversial action of Abrines

In the resumption, Barça broke the deck.

He pushed the pegs all the way to Valencia on defense and forced Ponsarnau's men to fall again and again into the error when looking for shooting solutions, with a Kalinic especially denied from beyond the 6.75 line in options apparently clear to score.

Calathes signed several good interventions in the first moments of the quarter, but it was a devastating 0-11 partial for the Barcelona fans, with Abrines as the most outstanding player and contributions from a seemingly infallible Smits, Claver and Oriola to send the duel to the last and final fourth with a comfortable advantage in the bright (44-54).

The part of the period, 9-21, spoke very clearly of the extent to which things had changed at the Fonteta.

Barça further increased the gap at the start of the last period, with a triple by Abrines and a basket by Oriola that took them to a maximum advantage of 15 points (44-59).

The locals, however, responded quickly with a basket by

and a 3 by

to reduce it to a less heavy, psychologically, 49-59.

Something that Dubljevic, reappeared, wanted to reaffirm with a personal action to reduce things even more (51-59) and set a favorable partial for Valencia of 7-0.

Those of Jasikevicius seemed to find a way to counteract it by means of a Calathes that pressed the accelerator when he saw a clear option of attack and stepped on the brake to let the seconds pass when not.

Higgins, in fact, would take advantage of a large assist from the Greek American to put a seemingly comfortable 54-66 again only to see two 3-pointers in a row from Kalinic push things back to 60-66.

An unsportsmanlike approach to Hermansson in his fight for position with Higgis himself, however, would end up becoming an option for the visitors to give the finishing touch to the game that two errors by the American from the free throw line would end up ruining.

Prepelic, with two free throws after forcing a foul by Calathes, pushed things back to 62-67 that gave new hope for Valencia.

Hopes that could have become more palpable with an action by Abrines that the referees did not consider as a foul despite local protests, but, in the end, would not go further.

Barça, after the defeat in Saint Petersburg, would manage to take a hard-fought 66-71 victory that allows them to find their best feelings.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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