Nikola Mirotic leads Barcelona past Valencia in a EuroLeague classic
In another EuroLeague classic, Nikola Mirotic scored the game-winning two-pointer and handed Barcelona the 76-77 victory over Valencia.
Mirotic led the winners with a game-high 26 points, including the go-ahead layup with 3.4 seconds left.
The Catalans came back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter (68-53) and outscored their opponents 8-24 to seal the deal.
Barcelona registered its fourth consecutive win in the EuroLeague and improved to 17-6.
Moreover, the “Blaugrana” is still second in the standings, tied with rivals Real Madrid.
For its part, Valencia now is at 11-12 but remained within the playoff zone in the EuroLeague.
Crvena Zvezda came back twice from a double-digit deficit and defeated Panathinaikos in Belgrade (78-73).
Zvezda was down by 11 at the end of the third quarter (46-57), but went on a 32-16 run and earned the victory.
The Serbians improved to 10-13 and snapped a four-game losing streak, maintaining a playoff push.
On the other hand, the “Greens” dropped to 13-10, yet they are still sixth in the standings.
In Tel-Aviv, an injury-plagued Maccabi edged Khimki and won for the first time after two consecutive losses.
The Israelis rallied from 13 points behind (34-47) and dominated their opponents in the second half to win the game.
Maccabi’s record rose to 15-8, ever closer to EuroLeague playoff qualification.
Khimki, on the contrary, lost for the seventh time in the last eight EuroLeague games and fell to 9-15.
Fenerbahce continued its impressive comeback and defeated Zenit in Russia (68-73).
In their first-ever visit to Saint Petersburg, the Turks earned their fourth straight road victory.
Fenerbahce amassed a 20-37 second-quarter lead only to see Zenit rally to within 4 points on several occasions. However, the visitors stood tall and sealed the deal.
Fenerbahce won for the sixth time in the last seven EuroLeague matches and now are at 11-12.
They are now tied with Armani Milano and Valencia for eighth in the standings.
On the other hand, the Russians remained on the bottom with a 7-16 record.