Anadolu Efes broke Barça's winning streak in 2021 and showed they want to break into the top eight in the Euroleague with a hard-fought win at the Palau.
The great numbers achieved, once again, by
Nikola Mirotic
(24 points, 25 PIR) were of
no use to the Catalans
.
The Turkish team, led by a great
Vasilije Micic
(26 points, 30 PIR) perfectly complemented by the sparks of talent from
Shane Larkin
, managed to exasperate the locals in attack and sweep their defense in the most decisive moments .
[Narration and statistics (86-88)]
Barça suffered a severe punishment in the first quarter.
Those of
Sarunas Jasikevicius
lost their usual defensive solidity and were more failures than usual in an attack in which they could only be practically entrusted to the success of a Mirotic also somewhat irregular.
Efes would take advantage of all this, especially through Micic and
Rodrigue Beaubois
, to leave at the end of the period with a resounding 22-27 in their favor in the light, although they had been able to amass even a seven-point lead.
In the second period, despite
Kyle Kuric's
initial triple
, the Catalans were 10 points behind on the scoreboard.
Chris Singleton
, Micic, and Larkin punished over and over their gaps.
But, when the outlook seemed to get worse for the locals, the specific appearances of Indiana,
Nick Calathes
and
Brandon Davies
helped Barça not lose face to the game completely.
The power forward, in fact, would pull with faith to score on the horn and from the center of the court a triple that sent the duel to the break with a tight 50-53.
From 58-58 to 67-80
Larkin, for his part, would be the great architect of Efes leaving at the end of the third quarter with a more comfortable advantage (65-72).
The appearances of Mirotic and the sparks of
Corey Higgins were
of no use to the Catalans
.
As much as Jasikevicius's men leveled the score (58-58), they were never able to get ahead.
His countless losses and his lack of ideas to complete the attack would be the wickers with which his rival, little by little, would build a well-deserved victory.
In the last quarter, with a terribly fierce defense, Efes managed to prevent Barça from scoring their first points until almost halfway through the period.
Larkin, with a 3 + 1 action, would build a maximum advantage of 13 points (67-80) that, in the end, would be more than enough.
When perhaps they could have tightened the pegs to his rival, Barça betrayed his lack of control on the rebound.
Against this background, the final appearances of Calathes and Mirotic would only manage to place a deceptive 86-88 final in a fateful evening.
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2021 business calendar
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