Barça – Olympiacos: A win in the last European encounter of the year (90-80)

Barça took another Euroleague win at the Palau Blaugrana on Friday night, their 13th of the campaign. Victory against Olympiacos saw Mirotic star for Barça, who remain joint leaders in the standings.

A dominant start

The home team began the game at a solid pace, dominating the score and racking up points in a Mirotic-insipired early charge. Solid in defence and with their boards at both ends, Pesic's side were able to end the opening quarter with a 20-12 advantage. 

In the second quarter, a 2-7 partial gave hope to the Greek visitors, and the lead for Barça was reduced and overcome to make it 34-38. Six points in quick succession from Kuric got the Blaugrana back ahead before the halftime break, 40-39.

Magestic Mirotic leads the second half charge

Mirotic was the impact man in a 16-6 partial for Barça in the third quarter, as they pulled clear by 56-45. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Delaney took the lead to +14, and the home team never looked back. Heading into the final quarter, Pesic had been sent to the stands for two technical fouls, but his team remained in control.

Kuric picked up the slack in the final quarter, partnering Mirotic (with a personal Euroleague record of 15 rebounds) as cornerstones of a relentless attack. In the end, Barça claimed a 90-80 win, setting them up for the Clásico against Real Madrid this Sunday and keeping up their European form.

Game stats

Barça, 90
Olympiacos, 80

Barça: Hanga (14), Higgins (9), Smits (-), Mirotic (21), Tomic (6) -starting five-, Abrines (5), Delaney (11), Kuric (18), Ribas (-), Oriola (-) i Davies (6).
Olympiacos: Koniaris (3), Spanoulis (2), Paul (-), Printezis (6), Reed (15) -starting five-, Cherry (6), Rochestie (4), Papanikolau (14), Rubit (10), Vezenkov (14) i Baldwin (6).
Partials: 20-12 / 40-39 / 69-58 /90-80
Referees: Sasa Pukl, Paternico Carmelo, Tomasz Trawicki