By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Mirotic had a couple of reasons to feel “great” after the EuroLeague season debut and his return to competition following a five-year NBA stint.
Barcelona beat 2019 EuroLeague runner-up Anadolu Efes in Istanbul, behind Mirotic’s game-high 24 points (5/8 2-pointers, 4/8 3-pointers) and four rebounds. The Spanish-Montenegrin forward couldn’t have pictured a much better comeback in the top-tier continental competition.
“First of all, I felt great. Very excited obviously to be back. I was looking forward to that first game, and today against Efes was a big day for us, a very challenging game. We know it would be hard to beat them. They had some injuries today, but I think we played a very good and very complete game, especially defensively. For me, individually, the most important thing is the win,” Mirotic said after the match, per EuroLeague.net.
Mirotic’s transfer to Barcelona is widely considered the top summer signing in Europe. It wasn’t the only major acquisition the Blaugrana made though, since they also brought on board All-EuroLeague center Brandon Davies, EuroLeague standout Cory Higgins, former NBAer and Barcelona player Alex Abrines, plus 2019 All-EuroLeague guard Malcolm Delaney.
“The good thing about this roster is that we have a very deep team, which means that everyone can score 20-plus points,” Mirotic said. “If one day it’s me, another day it’s Corey or Malcolm, so we just need to find our roles to play with patience. It’s a long season, we’re going to need everybody. We just need to stay healthy, be patient and work hard.”