2021-22Regular SeasonRound 6
October 26, 2021 CET: 19:45
Local time: 20:45 ULKER SPORTS AND EVENT HALL

Mirotic, on buzzer, keeps Barca perfect with 74-76 win at Fenerbahce

In a classic battle that seesawed until the finish, FC Barcelona proved one shot tougher in downing host Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 74-76 on a buzzer-beating game-winner from Nikola Mirotic on Tuesday. Barcelona stayed unbeaten at 6-0 while Fenerbahce's second straight one-point loss dropped its record to 2-4. After Devin Booker tied it 74-74 with 6.2 seconds left on a smashing dunk, Barcelona looked for Mirotic in the post, where he scored a twisting shot off the backboard for the win. Cory Higgins paced the winners with 18 points and Brandon Davies added 16 while Nick Calathes chipped in 11 plus 7 assists. Fenerbahce got 24 points from Jan Vesely and 17 from Marko Guduric.

Vesely's trio of clean jumpers made it 6-0 before Higgins got Barcelona going with a put-back. That merely interrupted Vesely, though. He downed 2 more baskets before Guduric joined him to make it 12-2, marking Barca's first double-digit deficit of the season! Calathes corrected that with a layup then fed Higgins for another. Kyle Kuric and Dyshawn Pierre traded the game's first triples at 16-11. Nando De Colo fed Achille Polonara smartly on the break as Fenerbahce held a 20-14 lead after 10 minutes.

Marial Shayok opened the second-quarter scoring for Fenerbache before Mirotic opened his tally at the foul line and Rolands Smits dropped a turnaround at 22-18. Nigel Hayes-Davis scored inside and fed Calathes for a second-chance triple after Pierria Henry combined with Booker for a dunk as Fenerbahce stayed ahead 27-23. Calathes and both got the visitors within a basket of tying. Davies finally accomplished that with a baseline jumper and then took a pass from Higgins to mark Barca's first lead, at 29-31. Higgins and Hayes-Davis kept it going until Barca held a 29-35 halftime advantage.

Guduric scored 5 points soon after halftime to keep the hosts within 34-39. When Vesely fed Pierre for an open triple the difference was down to 39-41. Neither team could break the other's defense for a while until Calathes and Nicolas Laprovittola dropped free throws before De Colo fed Vesely for a slam at 41-45. Sehmus Hazer climbed off the Fenerbahce bench for an acrobatic layup and free throw at 44-47. Polonara's put-back made it a one-point game and Hazer's steal led to go-ahead free throws from Vesely. Nonetheless, Calathes found Smits in low for a layup before the third-quarter buzzer to keep Barca ahead 48-49.

Calathes fed Higgins and Vesely did the same for Hazer to start the fourth quarter at 50-51. Smits stayed strong with a put-back and Calathes found Davies to make it 50-55 before Guduric buried 3 free throws. A second-chance triple from Higgins was answered by De Colo in the paint, but Higgins returned to the arc for one more at 55-61. Guduric lifted Fenerbahce from deep, and after a lull in both directions, hit another triple that came with a free throw for a scoreboard-flipping four-point play at 62-61 with 3:33 to play. Davies, who had just missed free throws for Barca, now blasted a triple, but Vesely answered from the baseline for a 64-64 tie. Vesely drove strong at 66-65 but was called for an unsportsmanlike foul that let Higgins make it 66-67 with 2:04 to play. With the extra possession, Davies converted a three-point play to make it 66-70. Henry appeared with his first triple after 4 misses to make it 69-70 for Fenerbahce. Hayes-Davies and Mirotic added 2 free throws each for Barca, while Vesely hit 1 of 2 but put back his own rebound for a 72-74 score with 41 seconds left. Davies was triple-teamed and committed a turnover before Booker took a loose ball in stride for a game-tying super slam at 74-74 with 6.2 seconds left. Barcelona called timeout and got the ball to Mirotic for another of his spectacular many game-winning plays with the club.

Davies, Mirotic stuck with it

Neither of FC Barcelona's top performers through the team's first five unbeaten rounds seemed ready to resolve a sixth one when the fourth quarter started on the court of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Tuesday. Nikola Mirotic had 3 points and as many turnovers for a PIR of 0 after 30 minutes. And though Brandon Davies was better, with a PIR of 11, he had only 2 rebounds in under 12 minutes. Both rallied after that, however, especially once Fenerbahce took a 62-61 lead with 3:33 to play. In what time was left, Davies made a huge three-point shot and then went inside for 3 more points the hard way. Mirotic added a couple of clutch free throws, but saved his best for last, a contested turnaround flip shot off the glass for just his second field goal of the game. As it came with time running out, though, it was enough for him to be the game's hero -- with a strong second to his fellow big man. They combined for 10 of Barcelona’s last 15 points to keep their team perfect.

Vesely's bittersweet night

He started the game with 10 points in a row and finished it willing his team back in front. In between, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul center Jan Vesely was a force, with a team-high 8 rebounds and what would eventually be his best scoring total of the season, 24 points. When he made gave Fenerbahce a 66-65 lead on a layup scored with 2:26 to play, it seemed he would not let his team lose. But a broken play came next that let Barca jump in front, 66-70, on a five-point possession during which Vesely was called for two fouls, the first of them unsportsmanlike. He did not quit, getting 3 of those points back with 41 seconds left before his frontcourt mate Devin Booker tied the game in the closing seconds, only to see Barcelona's Nikola Mirotic hand Fenerbahce its second consecutive one-point defeat on the buzzer.

Cory Higgins - FC Barcelona - EB21
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; HORDOV, TOMISLAV ; PETEK, SASO
Attendance: 5132
By Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul2091926
FC Barcelona15201427
End of Quarter1234
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul20294874
FC Barcelona15354976
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 BIRSEN, METECAN 3:41           1 1               1
2 HAZER, SEHMUS 10:41 5 2/5 0/1 1/3         1       2 2  
3 SHAYOK, MARIAL 6:56 2 1/1 0/1             1     2   -2
10 MAHMUTOGLU, MELIH DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 DE COLO, NANDO 20:06 4 2/2 0/2         3 2 6     4 1 -2
20 HENRY, PIERRIA 29:35 3 0/4 1/5     4 4 6 2 1     5 1 2
21 PIERRE, DYSHAWN 26:12 7 0/1 2/2 1/2   3 3 4 2 2     1 3 14
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 22:49 17 2/2 3/4 4/4   2 2 3 1 2     3 5 22
24 VESELY, JAN 31:55 24 10/14   4/6 2 6 8 2 1 2     3 5 29
31 BOOKER, DEVIN 31:04 8 2/4 0/2 4/4 3   3 2         3 2 8
33 POLONARA, ACHILLE 13:07 4 2/2 0/3   1 1 2 1 3       2 1 6
44 DUVERIOGLU, AHMET 3:54                         2 1 -1
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 74 21/35 6/20 14/19 7 18 25 21 12 14 0 0 27 21 79
        60% 30% 73.7%
Head coach: DJORDJEVIC, SASA
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 21:39 16 6/8 1/1 1/3   3 3 2 4 3     3 5 20
5 SANLI, SERTAC 7:59   0/2     2   2   1       1 1 1
8 MARTINEZ, SERGI 1:25                           1 1
10 SMITS, ROLANDS 20:24 8 3/3 0/2 2/2 4 4 8 1   3     2 1 11
14 HAYES-DAVIS, NIGEL 22:17 6 2/2   2/2 1 2 3 2 1 3     3 2 8
20 LAPROVITTOLA, NICOLAS 15:27 4 0/1 0/2 4/4   2 2 2 1 1     3 3 5
22 HIGGINS, CORY 25:33 18 3/6 2/4 6/6 1 1 2 2         3 5 19
24 KURIC, KYLE 24:41 5 1/3 1/3   1   1   1       1   2
31 JOKUBAITIS, ROKAS 5:25                   2         -2
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 27:48 8 2/3 0/6 4/6   7 7   3 4     1 5 9
42 CAICEDO, MICHAEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
99 CALATHES, NICK 27:22 11 2/3 1/3 4/4   4 4 7   1     4 4 18
Team           2 2 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 76 19/31 5/21 23/27 11 25 36 16 11 18 0 0 21 27 95
        61.3% 23.8% 85.2%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS

Head Coaches

DJORDJEVIC, SASA
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
"What can you say? You go home; you're going to dream it, all year, because we are really fighting. We are creating this fighting spirit and I'm proud of the guys. Again, sometimes these unsportsmanlike fouls are really killing us and we have to be smarter in those situations. But other than that, it was a great opponent, they have a lot of weapons. We tried to get it back; we were so close. It's a process for us. We're working and let's move on. Congratulations to Barcelona."
JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
FC Barcelona
"I think we really picked up after the first quarter, and we were pretty good. And then we made a lot of childish mistakes, like always, you know. But again, our calendar is crazy. The guys are not fresh, exactly. The biggest respect to them for pulling it out, and you know, this is the most we can do right now, just play games and try to learn from the games. No time for practice, just traveling, traveling, traveling. [As for this last play], Nico, what to say? He has this quality to play one-on-one in the post. He has some moves, and you know, he got the job done."

Players

MIROTIC, NIKOLA
FC Barcelona
"I was trying to find the rhythm today. Honestly, I didn't feel great, especially offensively. I couldn't make the shots I usually make, but I was trying to do some different things. We knew it was going to be a really difficult game, so at the end, Coach Saras made a great timeout play. They looked for me, and with a little luck, at the end, I was able to score. So I am very happy that we won the game, even though we didn't play our best game, best performance. But the win is the win. We have to keep grinding. Everywhere is going to be difficult. Especially with teams like Fenerbahce at home. Here, they know how to play well with their fans. So, very happy, not much time to celebrate. We have to prepare ourselves for Tel Aviv because it's going to be another difficult game for us."
DAVIES, BRANDON
FC Barcelona
"We just had to fix some details and play harder. Playing in a place like this, with their fans, it's difficult. You've got to come with the right mindset and stick with it until the end. It's a big week for us. This was our main focus, getting this win, and we've got another tough road game, so we have to go get that one, too."