Bàsquet Girona 75-81 Barça: Hard fought win at Fontajau

Barça are coming back from Fontajau with a 6-point win over Bàsquet Girona, in a game that looked like it might be an easy ride early but turned out to be anything but. Jabari Parker scored 20 and Nico Laprovittola got 18, but despite their brilliance, the win was never certain at any point.

Yet one would not have expected that when an 0-11 streak and 6 triples in 9 attempts sent Barça flying to 12-26 by the end of the first period. But despite some fabulous ball from Ricky Rubio the lead gradually narrowed in the second, and by the time of the interval there were just six points between the two (31-37).

Jabari Parker got 12 of his points in the third period, nailing 100% of his shot attempts, and James Nnaji warrants mention too for his contribution to both attack and defence. But with ten minutes left to play, the gap remained at 6 points. A good lead, but by no means a decisive one.

Girona kept nudging away to the point they came within a point of levelling the game. For several minutes the home fans sensed their team might just be able to nick it at the last, but those hopes were slaughtered by a stunning late show from Nico Laprovittola, and nine consecutive Barça points put an end to Girona's charge once and for all (75-81).

MATCH STATS

Bàsquet Girona, 75
Barça, 81

Bàsquet Girona: Khem Birch (4), Sergi Martínez (6), Juani Marcos (9), Yves Pons (2), Ike Iroegbu (25), Maxi Fjellerup (4), Quino Colom (0), Mindaugas Susinskas (5), Gabe York (6), Jaume Sorolla (0), Stefan Djordjevic (14), Eric Vila (-)

Barça: Nico Laprovittola (18), Tomas Satoransky (3), Nikola Kalinic (8), Oscar da Silva (8), Jan Vesely (4), Ricky Rubio (10), Jabari Parker (20), Darío Brizuela (2), Alex Abrines (2), James Nnaji (4), Rokas Jokubaitis (2), Oriol Paulí (-)

Periods: 12-26, 19-11 // 24-24, 20-20

Referees: Miguel Ángel Pérez Pérez, Jorge Martínez, Andrés Fernández