78-77 in Moscow. Madrid sinks against Khimki
Classification: Barcelona and CSKA, leaders
Nikola Mirotic
was, in the end, who took what was already expected as a high-voltage duel against
Mario Hezonja
.
The Montenegrin Hispanic, with another performance to frame (25 points, 27 PIR), beat the Croatian, who equaled his best score in the Euroleague in his debut with Panathinaikos (21 points) and laid the foundations for
Sarunas Jasikevicius
consider very seriously recovering it for the cause.
The NBA has not done as well as expected and the Barcelona players still have their rights at European level, which they have renounced so that they can play with the Greek team, which finally fell in a game where vertigo was the predominant note.
[Narration and statistics (77-85)]
An electrifying first quarter by Mirotic, capable of scoring 13 points, allowed Barça to reach an apparently comfortable lead (17-26).
The forward was well shielded by
Brandon Davies
and
Leandro Bolmaro
while, on the part of the locals,
Konstantinos Mitoglou
held the guy before the little presence of a Hezonja that would retaliate, to spare, later.
The former Barça player was absolutely decisive for Panathinaikos to tighten things up.
Ben Bentil's
3-
pointers
, too lonely, collaborated to reduce a distance that came from 11 to just four points.
Against this background, Jasikevicius opted to recover Mirotic and
Nick Calathes
to go back to the luminous.
Exchange of blows
And, although Barça reached 33-45, it half met its objective.
His breakout attempt at the end would be partially stifled with a three-pointer by Hezonja and
Howard Sant-Roos
to get his team to narrow the quarter and leave a less painful 39-47 at halftime.
The duel returned much more locked, with the defenses more protagonists than the attacks.
And that was what, in the end, explained that the third quarter ended with a meager 11-12, with Higgins laying the foundation for what would be a brilliant ending.
The fact that Barça continued up with some comfort led
Oded Kattash
to opt for a chaotic exchange of blows.
Hezonja, intoned after a very forgettable first 10 minutes, would in this case share the limelight with Mitoglou to try, unsuccessfully, to get the visitors to commit some decisive concentration failure.
The definitive irruption of
Corey Higgins
and the always reliable contribution of Mirotic, despite his intentions, would ultimately be the great factors that the Catalans would cling to to win a much more worked victory than indicated on the scoreboard.
And, incidentally, to forget the recent stumble against Villeurbanne at the Palau.
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Know more
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See links of interest
2021 business calendar
Khimki Moscow - Real Madrid
Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Valencia Basket
Panathinaikos - Barça