Nicolas Laprovittola leads Barcelona past Maccabi / News - Basketnews.com

FC Barcelona was able to defeat Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in a game where the deficits never went beyond 10 points.

Credit: Srdjan Stevanovic/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Srdjan Stevanovic/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

After a hard-fought battle in Belgrade, FC Barcelona (8-2) won over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (5-4) with a score of 92-90 (31-26, 20-25, 17-19, 22-22).

Player of the Game EFF 19 Nicolas Laprovittola Points 23 Accuracy 7-13 Rebounds 4 Assists 3

As the second half dawned, both teams were perfectly poised with 51 points a piece.

Only in the third quarter did it seem like Barcelona broke the spell with a run of 10 points without reply (51-61).

Maccabi was resilient, however, and completely erased the gap before the end of the quarter before Tomas Satoransky responded to give Barcelona a slight edge heading into the fateful fourth quarter (68-70).

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth, with no runs of points exceeding 6 by either team.

Once again, Barcelona looked like the side to win after gaining a 4-point lead with 4 minutes 32 seconds remaining after Nikola Kalinic scored two points (81-85).

Maccabi, however, did not give up. The combined efforts of Jasiel Rivero and Lorenzo Brown zeroed out the lead with 2 minutes and 6 seconds remaining after Antonious Cleveland made one of two free throws (89-89).

After the game went down to the wire, Barcelona had a chance to finish it off for good after Antonius Cleveland fouled Laprovittola and gave Barcelona three free throws.

Amazingly, Laprovittola only made one out of three shots, and Maccabi had the chance to win (90-92).

Ultimately, Lorenzo Brown, who had an ineffective night, missed his fifth three-pointer, and the game was sealed in favor of Barcelona. As a result, Maccabi's win-loss record regressed to 5-5, while Barcelona's improved to 8-2 after 10 rounds.

Nicolas Laprovittola was in good shape for Barcelona, contributing 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists against 4 turnovers. Alex Abrines contributed to scoring 16 points on 66% field goal shooting, while the youngster James Nnaji impressed, reaching 11 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes.

Maccabi found consolation with Wade Baldwin IV's performance, which consisted of 19 points, 8 assists but 6 turnovers. Josh Nebo was also effective, collecting 13 points and 5 rebounds.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Wade Baldwin IV 19 (8 AST, 6 TO), Lorenzo Brown 12 (1/5 3FG), Josh Nebo 13 (5 REB)

Barcelona Nicolas Laprovittola 22 (4 REB, 3 AST), Alex Abrines 16 (6/9 FG), James Nnaji 11 (4 REB, 5 FO)

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