By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
With Nikola Mirotic back on board, FC Barcelona downed LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 84-71 at home in their Turkish Airlines Round 23 meeting to sweep the regular-season series. Barcelona has previously won their Round 12 game in Villeurbanne 80-60.
Mirotic, who remained sidelined last week after testing positive for COVID-19, returned to action to drop 16 points and 7 rebounds against the French side, while Nicolas Laprovittola shined in the victory and came close to his season-high performance with 20 points (4-of-7 threes).
Brandon Davies contributed to the efforts of the hosts with 11 points, and Dante Exum followed with 9 points.
Barcelona imposed its pace early on, to take a 45-30 lead at halftime and never looked back, while the deficit skyrocketed at 19 points in the third period (54-35). Sarunas Jasikevicius’ squad bounced back after last week’s defeat to UNICS to improve to a 17-5 record.
“We’re happy to win. It’s not easy. We’re coming off an emotional win”, said Jasikevicius. “It was important not to have a letdown. I thought the guys took it seriously”
ASVEL struggled for the entirety of the game and faced its fourth defeat in the last five games, to fall to a 9-13 record in the standings. Youssoupha Fall had a season-high performance with 20 points and 7 rebounds leading all scorers of TJ’s Parker’s squad and Elie Okobo added 17 points and 8 assists.
Photo credit: EuroLeague