Victory once again in the Euroleague for Barça as they end the regular season with an 85-71 win over Valencia Basket to secure second place in the table. The competition now moves on to the play off round where the blaugranes will face Zalgiris Kaunas, the former club of FC Barcelona Saras Jasikevicius, who finished in 7th place in the regular season thanks to their 83-80 win over Bayern Munich. 

Abrines with the three pointers

The first quarter was action packed with both teams beginning brightly. In the fifth minute Nikola Mirotic appeared, scoring 12 points and two from two from for three pointers. Thanks to 11 unanswered points, the blaugranes went 10 ahead but Valencia reacted well to finish the first quarter just three behind at 24-21. 

In the second quarter Álex Abrines took control with an exceptional five from six from the three point line. The contribution from the Mallorca meant a 51-46 lead at the break for Saras' team. 

Sealing victory 

In the second half the blaugranes continued their impressive offensive display. Despite the best efforts of Valencia's Jared Harper who ended the game with 14 points, the home side led 72-61 with just the final quarter to come. 

Valencia limited Barça to just two points in the first five minutes of the fourth period to come within six points. Nevertheless, a Mirotic three pointer sparked a reaction to see the blaugranes take control once again and close out an 85-71 win, their 23rd of the regular season and one that assured them of second place in the table. 

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    MATCH STATS

    Barça, 85
    Valencia Basket, 71

    Barça: Satoransky (7), Laprovittola (4), Abrines (15), Mirotic (18), Vesely (13) – starting five – Sanly (9), Kalinic (2), Higgins (5), Tobey (5), Kuric (3) and Jokubaitis (4).

    Valencia Basket: Harper (14), Claver (6), Puerto (0), Jones (9) and Alexander (6) – starting five – Pradilla (7), Webb (7), Radebaugh (7), Evans (4), Dubljevic (5) and Rivero (6).

    Força Barça