Kuric's dagger helps Barcelona hold off Crvena Zvezda's late push / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Rodolfo Molina / Contributor Credit Rodolfo Molina / Contributor

FC Barcelona (12-2) continue asserting their dominance in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, extending their winning streak to seven by beating Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (6-9) in Serbia 76-69 (20-13, 14-18, 27-18, 15-20).

Player of the Game EFF 23 Nigel Hayes-Davis Points 14 Accuracy 4-7 Rebounds 8 Assists 3

Crvena Zvezda refused to give up in front of their fans in the fourth, with Nate Wolters cutting their deficit to single digits (59-67). Dejan Davidovac and Nikola Kalinic added two more buckets, and Barcelona's lead was down to four with 3:30 to go (63-67).

Nikola Mirotic responded by converting an and-one, but Stefan Markovic responded with a 3-pointer (68-71). Austin Hollins had a chance to tie the game, but his 3-pointer was off, Mirotic answered with two free throws. Kyle Kuric nailed a clutch 3-pointer, and Barcelona held off Zvezda, winning it by seven.

"It's exactly what we expected," coach Jasikevicius said after the game. "In some situations, we got a little bit lucky, they missed some open looks. We found a way to get to the line at the end. Here, you just take a win, especially with our schedule, with our situation, and go home. So we are very happy."

Barcelona started the game well, with Sergi Martinez hitting two 3-pointer to give his team a 16-5 lead. On the other end, Luka Mitrovic scored seven points in the first period, cutting his team's deficit to seven after one (13-20).

Mitrovic stayed hot in the second, scoring four more points to tie the game at 20. The teams continued trading blows, with both coaches feeling the tension and being awarded technical fouls towards the end of the quarter. Barcelona were on top at halftime, up by three (35-32).

The number one ranked ATP tennis player from Serbia, Novak Djokovic, was in the arena to support Crvena Zvezda tonight, firing up the local crowd.

Crvena Zvezda Belgrade / Schedule

Crvena Zvezda Belgrade Olympiakos Piraeus81-76 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade FC Barcelona69-76 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade FC Bayern MunichFri19:45

Nicolas Laprovittola and Nigel Hayes-Davis kicked off the third period with three straight 3-pointers to give Barca an eight-point advantage (43-35). The hosts stayed within striking distance until the end of the period when Barcelona finally gained a double-digit lead. They went into the final quarter with a 12-point cushion.

Nigel Hayes-Davis led Barcelona with his highest-scoring and most efficient game of the season. He finished the game with 14 points (2/4 2PT, 2/3 3PT, 4/4 FT), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, and 23 PIR.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," Hayes-Davis said post-game. These fans do a great job of making it tough to play here. As an opponent on the road, we love these games. It's always good to get a win on the road against a good team."

He also made an amusing comment about finally being interviewed after the game: "Coach told me, he gave me some sh*t about finally doing a post-game interview in EuroLeague. He said it's only for good players. I'll try to be more consistent and hopefully, he'll be more proud of me."

Barcelona: Nigel Hayes-Davis 14 (8 REB, 23 PIR), Rolands Smits 11, Sertac Sanli 11, Nikola Mirotic 10 (7 REB), Kyle Kuric 8, Brandon Davies 6, Sergi Martinez 6, Nicolas Laprovittola 6.

Crvena Zvezda: Nikola Kalinic 15, Luka Mitrovic 15, Nate Wolters 11, Stefan Markovic 8, Dejan Davidovac 8 (6 REB).

Highlights:

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