Nikola Mirotic leads Barcelona past Valencia in a EuroLeague classic

In another EuroLeague classic, Nikola Mirotic scored the game-winning two-pointer and handed Barcelona the 76-77 victory over Valencia.

Mirotic led the winners with a game-high 26 points, including the go-ahead layup with 3.4 seconds left.

The Catalans came back from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter (68-53) and outscored their opponents 8-24 to seal the deal.

Barcelona registered its fourth consecutive win in the EuroLeague and improved to 17-6.

Moreover, the “Blaugrana” is still second in the standings, tied with rivals Real Madrid.

For its part, Valencia now is at 11-12 but remained within the playoff zone in the EuroLeague.

Crvena Zvezda came back twice from a double-digit deficit and defeated Panathinaikos in Belgrade (78-73).

Zvezda was down by 11 at the end of the third quarter (46-57), but went on a 32-16 run and earned the victory.

The Serbians improved to 10-13 and snapped a four-game losing streak, maintaining a playoff push.

On the other hand, the “Greens” dropped to 13-10, yet they are still sixth in the standings.

In Tel-Aviv, an injury-plagued Maccabi edged Khimki and won for the first time after two consecutive losses.

The Israelis rallied from 13 points behind (34-47) and dominated their opponents in the second half to win the game.

Maccabi’s record rose to 15-8, ever closer to EuroLeague playoff qualification.

Khimki, on the contrary, lost for the seventh time in the last eight EuroLeague games and fell to 9-15. 

Fenerbahce continued its impressive comeback and defeated Zenit in Russia (68-73).

In their first-ever visit to Saint Petersburg, the Turks earned their fourth straight road victory.

Fenerbahce amassed a 20-37 second-quarter lead only to see Zenit rally to within 4 points on several occasions. However, the visitors stood tall and sealed the deal.

Fenerbahce won for the sixth time in the last seven EuroLeague matches and now are at 11-12.

They are now tied with Armani Milano and Valencia for eighth in the standings.

On the other hand, the Russians remained on the bottom with a 7-16 record.

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