FC Barcelona 84-74 Olympiacos: European bronze

FC Barcelona finished third in the Euroleague of 2021/22 after defeating Greek side Olympiacos in the third place playoff, with Mirotic leading the way with 19 points and a rating of 27.

Barça had managed to put Thursday’s setback behind them and went on at the Stark Arena determined to leave Belgrade with a win. They stormed into a 10-2 lead while the Greeks took longer to settle, but when they did bounced quickly back into the game at 20-18 by the end of the first period.

The second period saw Abrines score his 600^th three as a blaugrana, and Barça always having some sort of lead, eventually going in for the break at +5. 

Winning end

Top defending and well worked counters kept the Barça machine ticking in the third. . At 57-42 it looked like the hard work was done, with Calathes excelling on his way to 13 assists, and a total of 23 that set a new Final Four record. But just as Barça looked to be sailing away with it, a 5-12 streak from the Greeks suddenly made things a whole lot tighter again.

Barça still led and in the final period is what a case of making sure things stayed that way. And with Mirotic striking his A-game, that task was made a lot easier. Some well-chosen tactics from Saras ensured the Catalans took it 84-74, and with third place confirmed, attention can now switch back to the Endesa League and a playoff series against Gran Canaria.

MATCH STATS

Barça: Laprovittola (4), Kuric (-), Calathes (9), Mirotic (19), Sanli (16), Davies (10), Exum (3), Higgins (11), Hayes-Davis (-), Abrines (8) & Jokubaitis (4).

Olympiacos: Walkup (8), Dorsey (10), Papanikolau (-), Vezenkov (20), Fall (2), Lountzis (-), Larentzakis (5), Sloukas (14), Martin (2), Printezis (-), Jean-Charles (2) & Mckissic (11). 

Periods: 20-18 / 25-20 / 17-18 / 22-18

Referees: Ilija Belosevic, Olegs Latisevs & Damir Javor.