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Not enough energy to remain undefeated (85-68)

BarcelonaBarça left unbeaten in Tel Aviv. The Barça team blamed the fatigue of one back to back of extreme intensity (on Tuesday he played on the Fenerbahçe court) and lost to a Maccabi who has designed a squad to raise his voice again in Europe (85-68). The match was decided in a first half in which the Catalan team had problems maintaining its usual reliability. Without the protection of their defense, the visitors felt unprotected against a rival eager to bleed.

Cory Higgins, who scored 20 points, and Nikola Mirotic, who scored 17 points, were the best players of a Barça that took a long time to offer its usual version. The Barça team did not compete at their level until after the break.

Maccabi used an excellent first leg of the match to seize the pace of play. His starts are always intense, but yesterday’s was also accompanied by a great success in shooting. The local team proposed a high-intensity defense that nullified the usual game of the Barça team. The visitors lost 9 balls during a first half in which they had little to say. “We have to fight a little,” Saras asked in dead time. No luck because the difference grew to 22 points (54-32). “We made a good defense and dominated the game under the two baskets,” acknowledged Ioannis Sfairopoulos.

Barça’s best minutes came during a third period in which the Barça team managed to close the local gap. Mirotic led a 0-8 run that encouraged the visiting team, who reached the final 10 minutes with a disadvantage of just eleven points (65-54). The key was the defensive improvement, which prevented Maccabi from scoring as easily as during the first half.

Barça’s effort was not rewarded and Maccabi managed to reverse the situation during the last period, in which the Israeli team recovered its offensive production. Driven by 20 assists and high percentages, the collective play of the locals was very solid.

Michael Caicedo debut

The match left the European debut of Michael Caicedo, the latest jewel in Barça’s squad. The young man only played a few seconds on the Maccabi track. The Barça team will close a three-match week on Sunday with Urbas Fuenlabrada at the Palau Blaugrana. The club has launched a promotional campaign that allows you to purchase two tickets for the price of one.

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