2021-22Regular SeasonRound 15
December 14, 2021 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 ALEKSANDAR NIKOLIC HALL

Barcelona survives stiff challenge in Belgrade

FC Barcelona held on late to beat Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 69-76 on Tuesday night at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall for its seventh consecutive victory. The league-leaders improved to 13-2 on the season and dropped Zvezda to 6-9. Barcelona led through the second half, but a late Zvezda charge got the hosts within 3 with the ball in the final minutes. Nikola Mirotic and Kyle Kuric came through late to secure the victory. Nigel Hayes-Davis led the way for Barcelona with 14 points and 8 rebounds, Rolands Smits and Sertac Sanli scored 11 points apiece and Mirotic tallied 10 points and 7 boards. Luka Mitrovic and Nikola Kalinic scored 15 points each for Zvezda and Nate Wolters added 11.

Sanli and Mirotic – the latter with a bonus free throw – scored inside to give the visitors an early cushion. Ognjen Kuzmic got Zvezda on the scoreboard with a put-back. Sergi Martinez made a three from the corner and Sanli added a jumper for a 3-10 lead. After a basket for Zvezda by Kalinic, Sanli and Martinez buried back-to-back threes for a double-digit lead, 5-16, midway through the quarter. Mitrovic was a focal point on offense for Zvezda and scored on the fastbreak and on the pick-and-roll to make it 13-20 after 10 minutes.

The Zvezda defense stifled Barcelona early in the second quarter, while Maik Zirbes and Mitrovic fueled a 7-0 run to even the score. Hayes-Davis made free throws to end a 4-plus-minute scoring drought for the visitors. Wolters gave Zvezda its first lead, 23-22, with a triple. A Sanli slam put Barcelona back on top, but Zvezda stayed close and Wolters tied it at 27-27 with a floater. A dunk by Smits and free throws by Kyle Kuric gave Barcelona control, though a put-back by Kuzmic kept Zvezda close, 31-34 at halftime.

Nicolas Laprovittola opened the second-half scoring with a triple. Hayes-Davis also hit from deep and Laprovittola made another as the lead grew to 35-43. Kalinic helped keep Zvezda close and his triple made it 44-47. Smits matched him at the other end and Hayes-Davis added a three from almost the same spot. Smits dunked and Hayes-Davis made free throws to restore a double-digit lead, 46-57. Jokubaitis made it 49-61 through three quarters.

The teams traded points in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter and free throws by Mitrovic made it 57-65. The Zvezda defense stiffened up while Dejan Davidovac and Kalinic narrowed the gap to 63-67 with 3 and a half minutes remaining. Barcelona called timeout and Mirotic converted a three-point play off a baseline spin move to give the visitors breathing room. Markovic ignited the crowd with a three that made it 68-71 with just over 2 minutes remaining. After a bad pass by Jokubaitis, Austin Hollins missed a three that would have tied it. Mirotic sank free throws for Barcelona and a triple by Kuric with 30 seconds left all but put the game on ice.

Hayes-Davis leads the way

Nigel Hayes-Davis had his finest game in an FC Barcelona uniform on Tuesday with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists for a performance index rating of 23. All four numbers represent season-highs and the rebounds tied his career-high. Hayes-Davis, who joined the club this season from Zalgiris Kaunas, did most of his damage in the third quarter when he scored 12 points to help build a double-digit lead, which proved crucial later when Crvena Zvezda rallied. First, he made a three to put the visitors up 7 and then he took a dish from Nikola Mirotic for a contested layup and an 8-point lead. He scored again from close range before burying a triple that put Barcelona up 9 and then added free throws for a 46-57 advantage.

Game-changing moments: Crvena Zvezda vs. Barcelona

After Stefan Markovic drew Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade within 68-71 with just over 2 minutes remaining, FC Barcelona guard Rokas Jokubaitis turned the ball over trying to find Nikola Mirotic in the points. The momentum was very much with the hosts when Austin Hollins attempted a game-tying triple, but he missed. Nigel Hayes-Davis captured the rebound and Nikola Mirotic drew an off-ball foul from Hollins at the other end. He made free throws with 1:14 on the clock to make it a two-possession game and Kyle Kuric’s three with 29 seconds to go clinched the win.

By the numbers: Zvezda doomed by three-point struggles

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade had its second-worst three-point shooting night of the season in falling to FC Barcelona in Round 15. The hosts made just 3 of 20 triples (15%), while Barcelona was 9 of 18 (50%) from downtown. It was the third time this season Zvezda was held to 3 threes, though against Monaco in Round 6 it was 3 for 21 (14.3%). The three-point shooting discrepancy overshadowed the fact that Zvezda committed just 7 turnovers, which were 6 fewer than Barcelona, and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.

Nigel Hayes-Davis - FC Barcelona - EB21
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: PATERNICO, CARMELO; VILIUS, GYTIS; KOROMILAS, ELIAS
Attendance: 6894
By Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade13181820
FC Barcelona20142715
End of Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade13314969
FC Barcelona20346176
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 LAZAREVIC, STEFAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 WOLTERS, NATE 18:48 11 2/5 1/3 4/4       1   2     3 2 4
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 26:54 8 2/3 0/1 4/6 1 5 6 2 3       4 4 15
9 MITROVIC, LUKA 17:49 15 5/7   5/8 1   1 1         5 4 11
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 24:26         2 1 3 1   1     3 1 1
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 31:39 15 6/10 1/7 0/1 1 1 2 1 2 1     1 2 9
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 HOLLINS, AUSTIN 21:29 2 1/2 0/3     1 1 1         2 1 -1
20 IVANOVIC, NIKOLA 14:16 4 2/5 0/2         1         1 4 3
27 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 14:01 8 1/1 1/4 3/6 1   1 1 1 1     1 4 7
32 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 22:55 4 2/8     8 6 14 1   1     2   10
33 ZIRBES, MAIK 7:43 2 0/1   2/2 1 2 3       1     1 6
Team           2 2 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 69 21/42 3/20 18/27 17 18 35 10 6 7 1 0 22 23 68
        50% 15% 66.7%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 19:47 6 3/8 0/1     3 3 3   1     2 1 4
1 EXUM, DANTE LIMAN 14:59           1 1           2 1  
5 SANLI, SERTAC 20:13 11 4/6 1/3   1 2 3 2   1     5 2 8
8 MARTINEZ, SERGI 6:08 6   2/3             1     1   3
10 SMITS, ROLANDS 14:37 11 4/4 1/1   1 3 4           2 1 14
14 HAYES-DAVIS, NIGEL 28:38 14 2/4 2/3 4/4 3 5 8 3   1     1 3 23
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 4:09 2 1/2     1   1           2    
20 LAPROVITTOLA, NICOLAS 17:32 6   2/3     1 1 5 1 2     3 3 10
24 KURIC, KYLE 27:37 8 0/2 1/2 5/7 1 2 3 2 1 1       4 12
31 JOKUBAITIS, ROKAS 24:25 2 1/6           5   2   1 1 3 1
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 21:55 10 3/6 0/2 4/4 1 6 7 2 1 3     4 4 12
42 CAICEDO, MICHAEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2 2 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 76 18/38 9/18 13/15 10 25 35 22 3 13 0 1 23 22 90
        47.4% 50% 86.7%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS

Head Coaches

RADONJIC, DEJAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"Congratulations to Barcelona for the win first of all. We played some parts of the game good, some parts not that good. In the end, we missed [some shots], they made. It was a good opportunity to make a surprise."
JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
FC Barcelona
"It’s exactly what we expected. In some situations, we got a little bit lucky; they missed some open looks. We found a way to get to the line at the end. Here, you just take a win, especially with our schedule, with our situation, and go home. So we are very happy."

Players

HAYES-DAVIS, NIGEL
FC Barcelona
"We knew it was going to be a tough game. This is a fantastic atmosphere. These fans do a great job of making it tough to play here. As an opponent on the road, we love these games. It’s always good to get a win on the road against a good team. I just to try to continue. Coach told me, he gave me some shit about finally doing a post-game interview in EuroLeague. He said it’s only for good players. I’ll try to be more consistent and hopefully, he’ll be more proud of me."
KURIC, KYLE
FC Barcelona
"The most important thing is that we won in the end. I feel like we played pretty well overall. They hurt us on the offensive rebounds. But we have to close out games better and handle the pressure. It's a very tough place to play and we know that, but we still have to do our job. We're down some guys, so we have to stick together more as a team than ever. So we all rely on each other and w try to get wins as a team."