Hard fall of Barcelona as a local. They lost to Virtus Bologna 83-75, although they ended up 11-6 and on top due to the defeats of their direct competitors. Nicolás Laprovittola closed with 11 pts (0-2t2, 2-5t3, 5-5t1), 10 assists and 5 turnovers in 29 minutes.
Virtus Bologna started the game at a good pace. He earned his rebound, pressed well on defense, adjusted and took an early 8-2 lead. Laprovittola got into rhythm to discount, but Jaiteh (7) and Lundberg (5) were offensive pillars of the Italian cast. Virtus with an advantage of +11, dominating the boards and great field percentages. Barcelona looked for solutions but seemed disconnected without Satoransky. The visit with 3-6t3 plus the presence of Ojeleye (7) for the final 26 – 15.
Barcelona improved and returned courtesies. The bench gave good results, Da Silva and Abrines collaborated generating fouls and losses at Virtus Bologna. Laprovittola was filled with assists and the visit with just four points in half the period. Higgins sped up, got loose on offense to shrink after a 14-4. Virtus managed to get out of the hole with a pass from Shengelia and Lundberg plus another stout defense in the first half. Mirotic appeared just at the close with a key streak, leaving everything just 42 – 39 for the tanos.
Parity continued throughout. Although Virtus obtained an income of +7 with a scoring streak, Barcelona was more consistent in their game, with variations and the outside shot as a variant. Kuric and Kalinic on stage to move to the front, Laprovittola with another assist and Vesely imposing his experience. Virtus managed to stabilize, counted on Lundberg plus Shengelia as references to have the advantage but within a very marked parity. Barcelona failed from a distance, neither Kuric nor Higgins were fine and Virtus closed up 60 – 57.
The closure was everything for Virtus. The visit defended the front line strongly, managed to destabilize Laprovittola (loss) and the Italian team achieved a +9 advantage in four minutes. Even so, Barcelona came out of the siege, Vesely and Mirotic pulled the car at times, Laprovittola managed to assist and the blaugrana narrowed it to 73 – 70. A lethal triple from Teodosic came plus a couple of lethal defenses from Lundberg on Lapro to steal and score. Active Shengelia to pass and generate more spaces Ojeleye obtaining a lapidary 9-0 (82 – 70) and giving the note of the day.
