FC Barcelona grabbed its sixth consecutive home win by downing Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 82-70 at Palau Blaugrana on Friday. Barca leads the standings with a 22-6 record and already qualified to the playoffs. Zvezda dropped to 13-16 and saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.
Barcelona turns back Zvezda, 82-70



Nikola Mirotic led the winners with 19 points. Dante Exum added 13, Brandon Davies 12 and Rokas Jokubaitis 10 for the hosts. Ognjen Dobric had 17 points for Zvezda while Nikola Ivanovic added 13, all in the fourth quarter. Mirotic had 13 first-quarter points, getting help from Nick Calathes to give Barca a 22-15 lead after 10 minutes. Jokubaitis and Davies excelled in the second quarter, boosting Barca's margin to 47-32 at halftime. Zvezda improved its defense after the break and Nate Wolters hit a floater that got the guests within 67-59 early in the fourth quarter. Exum rescued Barcelona in crunch time, allowing Barca to register another victory.
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Dante Exum got Barca going with a driving layup that Ognjen Dobric improved upon with a three-pointer for a 2-3 Zvezda lead. Mirotic and Calathes scored next to give Barca an 8-5 edge. Dobric kept going with a fastbreak layup and Nikola Kalinic added a driving basket to put Zvezda back ahead, 8-9. Mirotic followed a three-pointer with a dunk to let Barca regain a 13-11 lead. Luka Mitrovic answered with a put-back basket, and after Mirotic and Ognjen Kuzmic exchanged layups for a 15-15 tie, Nico Laprovittola buried a triple for Barca. Mirotic scored again and Calathes added a driving layup for a 22-15 Barca lead after 10 minutes.
Davies followed a one-handed slam with a mid-range jumper for a 26-15 Barca advantage early in the second quarter. Jokubaitis found his first points and Kyle Kuric bettered Aaron White's slam with a triple that forced Zvezda to call a timeout at 31-17. Nonetheless, Davies took over with consecutive alley-oop slams that ignited the crowd and broke the game open, 35-17. Jokubaitis hit a bank shot before following a jumper by Davies with a three-pointer, good for a 42-21 Barcelona lead. Kuzmic dunked and got help from Dobric and Kalinic to bring Zvezda closer, 45-29. Dobric replied to James Nnaji's alley-oop slam with a triple that fixed the halftime score at 47-32.
Rolands Smits stepped up with a three-point play and Calathes banked in a floater for a 52-32 Barca lead soon after the break. Smits improved upon Dobric's layup with a bomb from downtown and Mirotic downed a baseline jumper to boost Barca's lead to 57-34. Mitrovic answered with a layup-and-one and Stefan Markovic struck from downtown to keep Zvezda within 59-40. Wolters scored in penetration and Stefan Lazarevic dunked to make Barca call timeout at 59-44. The hosts kept struggling to score and White brought his team even closer, 61-49. Davies and Alex Abrines helped Barca restore a 65-51 margin after 30 minutes.
Ivanovic buried an off-balance floater early in the fourth quarter. Nigel Hayes-Davis matched that with a jumper, Lazarevic dunked again and Wolters buried a floater to bring Zvezda within single digits, 67-59, with 7 minutes left. Exum rescued Barca with 6 quick points but Ivanovic singlehandedly took the guests to within 73-66. Mirotic and Dejan Davidovac exchanged layups and Exum scored twice in penetration for an 80-70 Barca lead in the next-to-last minute. Barca excelled on defense when it mattered most and Hayes-Davis dunked off a midcourt steal to seal the hosts' win in style.