A run of 12 consecutive wins has come to an end as Barça went down 86-76 in Valencia in a game that was not decided until the final throes.
Nico Laprovittola was the main man early on with three consecutive 3-pointers and with Barça also making the most of lost Valencian balls, the first period ended all square (21-21).
A very physical and also high scoring second quarter brought plenty of spectacular plays, with Dante-Exum, Brandon Davies and Mirotic all produced wow moments and very little to choose between the sides(40-42).
The lead carried on switching hands in the third period. Valencia were on top of the offensive rebounds but were also making errors that Barça punished them for. But still, there was no indication of a winner and going into the final period it was still anyone’s game.
Possibly the drive from their fans was Valencia’s greatest weapon as they edged into a bigger lead and began to glimpse hope of winning this fixture for the first time in four years. Indeed, Barça just couldn’t find the recipe to get back into it and desperate 3-point attempts became the order of the day, with very little fortune. Frankly, this was not Barça’s day.
MATCH STATS
València Basket: Neno (14), López-Arostegui (7), Víctor Claver (4), Jaime Pradilla (11), Mike (15), Puerto (2), Prepelic (8), Ferrando (3), Dubljevic (4), Rivero (14).
Barça: Calathes (4), Laprovittola (9), Exum (11), Mirotic (14) y Sanli (7), Sergi Martínez (2), Jokubaitis (7), Roland Smits (-), Kuric (7), Abrines (-), Hayes (1) & Davies (11)
Periods: 21-21; 19-21 | 24-19; 22-15.
Referees: Antonio Conde, Jorge Martínez, Roberto Lucas
