NBA Europe Live 2012: Barcelona dumps Mavericks

In the final game of the NBA Europe Live 2012 FC Barcelona Regal grabbed the second win for the Euroleague squads with a 99-85 victory over the Dallas Mavericks yesterday. The Mavericks played this contest without 2011 NBA Finals MVP Dirk Novitzki, who was nursing a swollen knee and was pulled from the line-up just before tip off.

“Last year I dealt with (swelling in the knee),” Nowitzki said. “We did treatment twice and the swelling didn’t come back. Hopefully it will respond next week and I can play through the year.”

“It’s unfortunate, I would have loved to play. But the preseason is not the time to force a swollen knee.”

Barcelona got 19 points apiece from Pete Mickeal and Juan Carlos Navarro, who knocked down five, three-pointers during the contest.

The hosts took a two-point advantage into the locker room at the intermission, but exploded in the third doubling the points put up by Dallas, 32-16, to take an 18-point margin into the final 12-minutes.

The Mavs were able to cut the gap to six deep in the fourth, but Mickeal’s back-to-back jumpers opened the game up again.

“Barca is a great team. I admire the way they pass, move the ball, cut and make screens. They had the advantage the whole game,” Dallas skipper Rick Carlisle said. “Barca is an NBA team.”

The win is the third for FC Barcelona Regal over NBA squads. In 2006 the two-time Euroleague Champions and 17-time Spanish Champions defeated the Philadelia 76ers, in 2010 they downed the LA Lakers and yesterday’s win over Dallas.

Along with Mickeal and Navarro, Barça got 13 from Nathan Jawai and 12 each from Ante Tomic and Marcelinho Huertas. C.J. Wallace hauled in 13 rebounds in a contest that saw the hosts out board the Mavericks 52-40.

Chris Kaman led Dallas with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Darren Collison added 14 points and Elton Brand dropped in 10.