Higgins, Mirotic, Davies guide Barca to a close win over Murcia in the Liga ACB start / News - Basketnews.com

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FC Barcelona (1-0) opened their Spanish league campaign with a narrow victory against UCAM Murcia (0-1) 85-78 (26-14, 16-14, 16-30, 27-20).

Barca started the game with Calathes, Higgins, Hayes-Davis, Mirotic, and Oriola. The five made a strong push from the first minute (12-3) with Mirotic leading the way (7 points). The Catalans did not let Murcia take control of the game till the end of the quarter. Barcelona were in front by 12 points after 10 minutes of playing time (26-14).

The match went back and forth in the second period, although, Jasikevicius' squad managed to increase its advantage to 14 points (42-28). Higgins stood out with 6 points in the quarter.

In the third period, the view on the floor changed. Murcia was the better team, outscoring Barca by 14 and erasing their double-digit deficit going into the final 10 minutes (58-58). Murcia's Webb and Taylor accelerated their team's offense, scoring 8 points each.

In the decisive quarter, both clubs went neck to neck. Murcia scored the first 3 points of the period but Barca answered with a 10-0 run thanks to Davies, Smits, and Higgins. Nevertheless, Murcia did not lose hope and remained in the game (69-68). But the last part of the closing frame belonged to Barcelona, as Mirotic, Smits, Davies, and Calathes made the important buckets. They secured the first official victory of the 2021-22 season.

Barcelona: Cory Higgins 18 (4 AST), Nikola Mirotic 18 (4 REB), Brandon Davies 17, Rolands Smits 10, Nick Calathes 9 (3 REB, 4 AST).

Murcia:Isaiah Taylor 18, Augusto Lima 15 (6 REB, 3 AST), Thad McFadden 14, James Webb 11, Tomas Bellas 9.

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