FC Barcelona did a solid job when it came to shooting from three-point range in the semifinals of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four against Real Madrid, but that was not enough to cover up for its lack of inside production, as well as a rare off night from 2021 EuroLeague MVP Nikola Mirotic.
Barca went 14-of-39 on three-pointers for a respectable 35.9%, but Saras Jasikevicius's team fell 66-78 to Real, meaning that it has lost to its archrival in the semifinals in two successive seasons.
Those 14 three-pointers tied the single-game team record in Final Fours, but even that wasn't enough for Barca to withstand its archrival despite a six-point halftime lead.
"We tried to beat them only with three-pointers and the result is 66 points. We didn't manage to find depth," said Nikola Kalinic, who made both of his three-point attempts for 6 points. "Okay they have Edy [Walter Tavares], but we didn't find a way to get into the paint or run them off. And, in the end, you have 66 points and you cannot win a EuroLeague semifinal with 66 points."
The Blaugrana converted just 10-of-30 of their two-point shots and also went 4-of-11 from the free-throw line. Still, Barca was leading 42-36 at intermission.
"It worked out in the first half. What didn't work out was our plan," stated Alex Abrines, who drained 4 of 8 three-pointers for a team-high 16 points. "We didn't play the same offense and defense in the second half and we let Real Madrid play their game. And that way they beat you."
Mirotic came into the game averaging 15.9 points per game, but the Barcelona star totaled only 3 points on 1-of-10 shooting and 1-of-2 free throws. He did not score until 4:20 minutes left in the game. It was Mirotic's lowest postseason output since scoring 5 points in Game 3 of the 2014 EuroLeague Playoffs.
"He's a really amazing player, but it is what it is. Sometimes a player has a bad game and the others have to score and try to play defense and take responsibility for the game," added Abrines. "Today was a bad game for him, but the rest of us need to step up and win the game for him, because he won so many games for us."