BarcelonaBitter night at the Palau Blaugrana, where Barça squandered a nine-point difference against an EA7 Emporio Armani from Milan who overturned the scoreboard by scoring 30 points in just 5 minutes (81-94). Nervous, without defensive continuity and uncomfortable with the referees, the Catalan team suffered their fifth defeat in the last six games in the Euroleague.
Nikola Mirotic faced Barça for the first time since the Barcelona club terminated his contract. The pivot winger, who received an emotional ovation, added 19 points and 7 rebounds. With no inside answer for guarantees, Zach Leday scored 33 points.
“Our defense is terrible,” acknowledged Joan Peñarroya, who saw his team run out of positions play-in. The coach is going to recover Darío Brizuela.
Barça started the night by taking advantage of the good percentages to open a gap of nine points on the scoreboard against a rival that tried to punish its defense of changes (21-12). The reaction of the Italian team came during a second quarter in which the locals worsened their shooting selection (43-40).
Milan’s EA7 Emporio Armani was distracted and the goal difference grew again (55-46), but Barça’s lack of defensive continuity gave the visitors wings. The Blaugrana team collapsed and the Palau panicked with a partial 5-30 in just five minutes (60-76).
Barça were unable to find answers in a painful last quarter that ended with boos from the fans.
