Olimpia Milano 74-70 Barça: Comeback too late

The FC Barcelona basketball side come back from Milan with a 74-70 defeat to show for their efforts in a game that was marked by two very different performances from Roger Grimau's side either side of half time. 

Nothing right in the first half 

The game saw Vesely rack four quick points but from then on it was all downhill for the blaugranes in the first half. Problems in defence, under the boards in particular, allowed Milano to take a 23-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The good news for Roger Grimau's team was the return of Nico Laprovittola after injury earlier in January. 

Barça began to improve in the second quarter but only one three pointer in the first 20 minutes of the game told its own story. Milano took advantage of Barça's mistakes in possession and built a seemingly impregnable 47-28 lead at half time.

Vesely leads comeback 

After the break Barça were a different team. A spell where the blaugranes outscored Milano 10-2 gave them hope and in the third quarter Grimau's team limited the Italians to just 10 points as the lead was cut 57-49 going into the final period. Milan appeared to weather the storm and extended their lead to 14 points. 

Almost a memorable night 

Barça finally got their three point game in action and at 67-58 Milano coach Ettore Messina was forced to call a time out. Two more scores from Barça made it a five point game with two minutes remaining. However, technical fouls at the wrong time and the clock prevented a memorable comeback for the blaugranes as the Italians held out for a 74-70 win. 

Barça are next in action in the league with a game against Palencia in the Palau Blaugrana at 5pm CET. 

MATCH STATS 

Milano: 74
Barça: 70

Milà: Napier (9), Hall (8), Shields (23), Poythress (10) and Melli (5) - starting five - Lo (0), McGruder (11), Ricci (0), Flaccadori (2), Hines (0) and Voigtmann (6).

Barça: Satoransky (6), Brizuela (2), Kalinic (9), Parker (11) and Vesely (28) - starting five - Da Silva (0), Hernangómez (10), Laprovittola (0), Jokubaitis (4) and Parra (0).

Parcials: 23-12, 47-28, 57-49, 74-70.

Àrbitres: Mehdi Difallah, Milan Nedovic i Josip Radojkovic