Barça gets up with the best Mirotic and equalizes the final

A superb performance by Niko Mirotic and the display of energy that was lacking in the first game helped Barça to get up, beat Madrid in a dying pulse, taken to the limit (71-69) and level the League final at one.

The azulgrana team seemed dead after the first game, dejected, without confidence, but managed to resuscitate thanks to the leadership of its star, who put the team on his back (26 points, 7 rebounds) and made a difference in a game fought to the death that will send the series to the Wizink Center starting Friday with everything open.

? ?????????? Barça 71-69 @RMBasketball ?

Spectacular PALAU, tied FINAL

??#ForçaBarça! pic.twitter.com/4ZsqHcAzit

— ? Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) June 15, 2022

If anyone expected a furious reaction from the barca at the start of the second game, in any case, he must have been disappointed. Instead of appearing in its most aggressive version, the Barça team repeated mistakes. He was slow to come into play, showed thickness in his actions, lack of tension and a certain defensive softness. He only scored two points, and free throws, in the first five minutes. As soon as he found out, Madrid had already opened a dangerous gap (2-12).

Jasikevicius had to quickly change his plan and take out of the equation to Calathes and Hayestwo of the most subdued players in recent times, and to touch sanliwhich he included at the last moment, to bet on Laprovittola and Jokubaitis, the two most inspired players in the first game and also to Davis. With the presence of the three and also of Kuric, Barça began to take better care of the ball and play with more energy. He also got better at controlling the rebound under his basket with the presence of Davies and Smiths as an inside partner and the improvement was not long in being appreciated (13-17, m. 10).

? BANG, BANG @23Llull!

? @we go#PlayoffLigaEndesa#ReadyToBreakIt pic.twitter.com/UL01CoUYVh

– Endesa League (@ACBCOM) June 15, 2022

The enormous physical exhaustion of Jokubaitis and Smits It spread to his teammates and gave excellent dividends to the azulgranas who experienced, in that second quarter, some of the best minutes of the final so far and took the initiative for the first time. It was an intense Barça, determined to fight for every possession and to close spaces in the zone. But he also found Davis, one of the missing players in these ‘play-offs’. His offensive contribution helped the team Jasikevicius to have more balance.

In that general attitude change, there was only one mole. The Madrid managed to get a lot of revenue from his offensive rebound, with Yabusele as the protagonist, and that allowed him to maintain a balanced situation at half-time (32-32).

Calathes’ punch

He had enough strength barca to keep your physical bet on the restart. But Madrid managed to hold his pace by resorting to some of the players who have reached this final part of the season touched, such as Taylor, Rudy, Abalde or Llull, which allowed the white coach Chus Mateo to stretch his rotations. As a result of that level of intensity came Sanli’s personal fourth and also the blow to the cheekbone of Calathes in search of a rebound, which led to him receiving several stitches, after colliding with Davies’s head.

“It’s a final: we have to leave everything on the track, like we did today”. Sarunas Jasikevicius. #PlayoffLigaEndesa pic.twitter.com/lUaYWldOSE

— #Let’s go for Movistar Plus+ (@let’s go) June 15, 2022

Related news

Madrid was sustained with the triples of Taylor and Lull. But Barça lived off the offensive awakening of mirotic, author of 12 points in the fourth and also of the work of Kuric and Laprovittola, to go to the last period in advantage (56-54). He even managed to open a gap that seemed very promising with six minutes remaining (65-57), but that Madrid wiped away in a seen and not seen with a partial 0-8.

That led the last three minutes to a heads or tails, which Barça knew how to solve with the success of mirotictwo free throws Higgins and a good defense to leave a desperate three-pointer by Causeur without a prize, which promises new strong emotions for the third installment.