Barça 86 - 88 Anadolu Efes: Unnbeaten run ended

After a run of six games unbeaten, Barça suffered a 86-88 defeat in the Euroleague against Anadolu Efes. Not even a 24-point scoring performance from Nikola Mirotic could keep the winning streak going, as the team fell to a first loss of 2021.

The Blaugrana have a Euroleague record of 17-7 so far this term.

Barça strike from outside

The game was a tight one, with a halftime score of 50-53 showing the effective offence of both teams. FC Barcelona came back from a 10-point deficit at one stage.

Mirotic and Davies brought the Blaugrana back into the game. The former hit 11 points, with his American teammate sending down a further 10.

Barça were looking to the permiter for their output, scoring six from seven in the first half.

Efes edge the win

Barça pulled level in the 24th minute, 58-58, but that began an Efes partial that saw them score an unanswered 9 points, giving the team a mountain to climb in the final quarter.

The Barça offence proved not to be enough, as the fightback fell just short. They reduced a 13-point lead to just 2 at the final buzzer, but could not avoid their first loss of the year.

Up next is a Liga Endesa game against Bilbao Basket.

MATCH STATS

Barça, 86
Anadolu Efes, 88 

Barça: Higgins (12), Calathes (9), Sergi Martínez (-), Mirotic (24) i Oriola (6) -starting five- Davies (14), Hanga (5), Westermann (3), Smits (3), Pustovyi (2) and Kuric (8). 
Anadolu Efes: Beaubois (7), Sanli (12), Moerman (6), Micic (26) i Krunoslav (4) -starting five- Larkin (19), Singleton (13), Balbay (-), Anderson (-) and Dunston (1). 

Partials: 22-27; 28-26 / 15-19; 21-16

Referees: Ilija Belosevic, Carmelo Paternico and Milan Nedovic.