In a duel in which Barça almost only heard the chants of its fans, since the club limited the tickets for members to prevent the stands from being filled with rival fans as sometimes happens, the team responded with the victory after an extra time (92-88), a step forward to be in the playoffs.
Although the match began in an uneventful manner, as it was delayed half an hour because Red Star’s replacement shirts arrived by plane and late (after the ones used in the previous match against Baskonia were damaged in the laundry), Barça, focused on defense against a physical rival with legs and wrist. Always under the direction of Miller-McIntyre, a magician with the ball in his hands, peppered by Nwora from the periphery and muscled by Moneke and Bolomboy in the low post. They and Rivero, who added nine points from a run, were able to overcome the resistance of Vesely and Punter to close the quarter between tight spots (18-20).
The Barça team continued to show no cracks in the defensive exercise, revitalized by Parra and again boosted by Punter, a team in combustion at times (35-28). But Red Star once again showed physicality, running non-stop, and took the lead into the interval with a minimal advantage (42-40) for Barça.
Vesely gave a defensive recital in the third act and took gold by causing two personals, while Clyburn found himself for a moment, six points in a row to break the resistance of Nwora, a dancer without equal, and the shooter Miller-McIntyre. 64-58 with one episode to complete. One in which Barça forgot to play as a team in attack, always with the individuality of Punter and Clyburn. That and the tremor of Parra, who missed two free throws to close the duel, led to overtime. But Barça grew in the face of adversity, and achieved a major victory in Europe.
Valencia fared worse, beaten by Partizan (110-104) after two overtimes, a setback that did not take them out of the top-4, waiting for Hapoel Tel Aviv to recover a match, although less fierce after losing to Baskonia (118-109), with no options in Europe, after 22 points from Forrest.
