Nikola Mirotic hands Barcelona fourth straight EuroLeague win
Nikola Mirotic helped Barcelona survive a late thriller against Baskonia and register its fourth straight victory in the EuroLeague.
The superstar forward of the Catalans made the game-winning block on Alec Peters and handed his team the win (71-72).
Even though Baskonia led by 10 with three minutes to go (71-61), Barcelona closed the game on an 0-11 run and sealed the deal.
Mirotic led the winners with 18 points, whereas Zoran Dragic had 15 for the losing squad.
Barcelona improved to 5-1 and remained on top of the EuroLeague standings. For its part, Baskonia dropped to 2-2.
The Basques still have to play two EuroLeague games, which were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the season debut of Shane Larkin in the EuroLeague, Anadolu Efes defeated Olympiacos in Piraeus (79-84).
The Turks were in control for the majority of the night, yet their win was decided in the final minute.
Even though Efes was in front by 12 (63-75) late in the fourth quarter, the “Reds” went on a 10-2 run and cut the deficit to four (73-77).
However, they could not come any closer than that and suffered their second straight loss in the EuroLeague.
Vasilije Micic posted 20 points and seven assists for the winners, while Larkin and Rodrigue Beaubois added 15 each.
On the other hand, Hassan Martin paced Olympiacos with 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Anadolu Efes now is at 2-3, whereas Olympiacos dropped to 2-2.
With Errick McCollum making a stellar debut in the EuroLeague, Khimki finally earned its first win after edging Crvena Zvezda at home (83-77).
No team led by more than seven points in the first three quarters. McCollum, though, took over in the fourth and led his team to the win.
Alexy Shved had 15 points and 12 assists for the hosts, while McCollum finished the game with 23 (22 of them in the second half).
Jordan Loyd once again was the best player of the Serbians with 18 points.
Khimki now is at 1-5, whereas Zvezda has a 3-3 record in the EuroLeague.