By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona beat Buducnost 95 – 83 at home and mathematically locked the fifth seed in the EuroLeague standings, with one game remaining for the completion of the regular season.
This result thus created the first 2019 EuroLeague playoffs matchup with Barcelona facing Turkish side Anadolu Efes. The latter will have homecourt advantage.
For Barcelona, Adam Hanga finished with a game-high 26 PIR by scoring 18 points, grabbing four rebounds, dishing out four assists and stealing the ball twice. Rolands Smits scored 14 in 15:55, Ante Tomic flirted with the double-double (11 points, nine rebounds) and Kyle Kuric dropped 11 points as well.
Danilo Nikolic notched a career-high 25 points for Buducnost that was more than competitive for 30 minutes despite playing minus center Goga Bitadze and the fact that the team has already been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Montenegrin team was up 46 – 44 after coming back from down 12 (38 – 26) at halftime but Barcelona reacted to finish the third period ahead 72 – 69 thanks to a 9-0 run early in the second half. The Blaugrana held on to their lead and proceeded to impose their rhythm down the stretch to build a double-digit advantage and get the victory.