Stellar Mirotic and clutch Higgins help Barca to level the series at 1-1 / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com-SCANPIX Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-SCANPIX

FC Barcelona recovered after a heavy loss in Game 1 of the ACB League finals, this time defeating Real Madrid at Palau Blaugrana 71-69 (13-17, 19-15, 24-22, 15-15) and leveling the series 1-1.

Player of the Game EFF 26 Nikola Mirotic Points 26 Accuracy 9-14 Rebounds 7 Assists 1

Game 3 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Friday (June 17) at 21:00 CEST in Madrid.

Nikola Mirotic kicked into the higher gear in the third quarter, scoring 12 points per 10 minutes. He navigated Barca to a two-point lead (56-54) before the last period.

The same Mirotic and Cory Higgins pushed Barca with a 9-1 spurt for a record-breaking advantage (65-57) but Guerschon Yabusele responded with 4 points in a row (61-65). Fabien Causeur and Walter Tavares poured in 4 straight free throws and the match was tied at 65 with 5 minutes to go.

After almost two and a half minutes without points, Nikola Mirotic terminated the silence with a deep two-point shot (67-65). Walter Tavares answered him with a duo and leveled the contest at 67 with 1:30 to play. Though, Mirotic added one more basket off the glass (69-67).

Tavares continued the duel between the two, tying the game again (69-69), as one minute was left on the clock. Mirotic missed from deep, Barca got an offensive rebound, while Cory Higgins drained two clutch free throws from a charity stripe (71-69). Fabien Causeur had a chance to win it but the Frenchman's three-pointer was off the mark.

Nikola Mirotic led the route for Barcelona with 26 points (6/8 2PT, 3/6 3PT, 5/6 FT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and a game-high 26 PIR.

Guerschon Yabusele shone on the other side, finishing the match with 16 points (7/10 2PT, 0/3 3PT, 2/6 FT), 11 rebounds, 1 assist, and 21 PIR.

Barcelona: Nikola Mirotic 26 (7 REB), Cory Higgins 10, Brandon Davies 8, Nicolas Laprovittola 8 (5 REB).

Real: Guerschon Yabusele 16 (11 REB), Walter Tavares 11, Adam Hanga 10 (5 REB).

Nikola Mirotic's performance

Game highlights

Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.