Time for a comeback. Barça went down to a 88-75 defeat in the first game of the Liga Endesa play-off against Real Madrid at the Palau Blaugrana with thoughts now turning to game two on Sunday at 9pm CEST, also at the Palau.
Playing catch up
Barça started brightly with Mirotic taking them to an early 5-0 lead. However, as the quarter progressed, Real Madrid established their dominance to take a 30-17 lead after the first period. That dominance continued in the second period with the visitors at one point taking a 20 point lead before finishing the half at 49-31.
In the third period the blaugranes tried to come back but to no avail as at one point Real Madrid's lead surged to 23 points. Saras' side rallied to bring the lead down to 11 points after a period of 12 unanswered points. However, it was just a mirage for Barça fans as the visitors closed out the win at 88-75 to take a 1-0 lead in the final.
MATCH STATS
Barça, 75
Real Madrid, 88
Barça: Calathes (6), Higgins (4), Hayes-Davis (2), Mirotić (13) and Smits (8) -starting five- Abrines (-), Davies (7), Laprovittola (15), Kuric (12), Sergi Martínez (-), Jokubaitis (8) and Nnaji (-)
Real Madrid: Causeur (15), Hanga (16), Deck (18), Tavares (7) and Yabusele (11) -starting five- Rudy (4), Taylor (5), Nuñez (3), Abalde (2), Poirier (7) and Randolph (-),
