FC Barcelona has now won six of its last seven games after beating ALBA Berlin 86-88 at Mercedes-Benz Arena on Thursday evening. This result means that Barca advances to 8-3 on the season, while ALBA has suffered its eighth defeat in a row, with its record dropping to 3-8.
Barca edges past ALBA, 86-88

Nikola Mirotic scored a game-high 19 points for Barca in his first appearance this season, following an Achilles injury, while the visitors also had Nicolas Laprovittola, Cory Higgins, Tomas Satoransky and Mike Tobey score a double-digit number of points. For ALBA, Tamir Blatt had the highest total with 17 points, followed by Jaleen Smith with 15 and Johannes Thiemann with 12.
Game Videos
Barca started the game well, with Mirotic showing that he doesn't need any time to get up to speed. The 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP had 8 points, including back-to-back three-pointers, to give Barca a six-point lead, 10-16, at the 5:19 mark in the first quarter. ALBA tried to fight back, but a combination of Laprovittola, Satoransky and Higgins saw Barca extend its advantage out to 13 points, 15-28, in the latter stages of the first period. There was a marked improvement in ALBA's defense after the opening quarter, which resulted in the hosts turning around the game. Blatt began to explode from three-point range, twice drawing his team level before his assist to Christ Koumadje resulted in ALBA taking its first lead of the game, 41-39, with just over a minute and a half remaining before halftime. At the break, ALBA had a slender one-point advantage, 46-45, after Jan Vesely threw down a dunk to close the half. The game began to get away from ALBA again in the third quarter, with Barca opening up a 16-point lead, 55-71, with 1:19 to go. ALBA trailed by 14, 57-71, starting the fourth, but the team kept fighting and gradually closed the gap. Yet, with the game drawing towards a close and Barca still ahead, Smith and Thiemann came to the fore with some important baskets. There was 18.6 seconds left on the clock when Smith's drive to the rim and finish saw ALBA move to one point behind, 84-85. Mirotic then went 2-for-2 from the line, but Thiemann was fouled beyond the arc with the chance to tie the game from the charity stripe. He ended up going 2-for-3, before Mirotic secured the win for Barca by hitting 1 of his 2 free-throw attempts.