FC Barcelona made a wild comeback and defeated UNICS Kazan in overtime (111-109) to extend its EuroLeague winning streak to nine games.
The Catalans trailed by 20 early in the fourth quarter (57-77), as the Russians went on a 30-46 run after the first quarter. Yet, the hosts outscored their opponents 37-17 in the last part of the game and forced an overtime (94-94).
In the extra period, UNICS had the chance to “steal” the victory. But, Isaiah Canaan missed two free throws and Lorenzo Brown (missed) the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
As a result, FC Barcelona stood tall and won its ninth straight to improve to 15-2. The “Blaugrana” closed the first half of the EuroLeague season on top. On the contrary, UNICS missed the chance to climb to fourth and dropped to 10-7.
Anadolu Efes turned things around in crunch time and clinched a big home win over Crvena Zvezda (84-83). The reigning champions trailed by seven in the final two minutes, but came back and win the game in the final seconds.
Efes were in control early in the game, but Zvezda took over and led for the majority of the night. Yet, Vasilije Micic was the one to seal the deal for the hosts, thanks to a pair of free throws (84-83). Micic scored the last 10 points for Efes in the late comeback attempt. Nikola Kalinic had the chance to hand his team the victory, with 0.9 seconds to go, but missed the three-pointer.
Anadolu Efes have now won seven of their last nine and improved to 9-8 in the standings. On the other hand, Zvezda dropped to 7-10.
ALBA Berlin put an end to a three-game losing streak, thanks to its 92-84 home win over Monaco. The Germans took control late in the second quarter and never looked back (40-30). They led by as many as 13 (69-56) and endured Monaco’s late comeback.
The visitors went on a 7-18 run to cut the deficit to two (76-74), but came up short in the end and suffered their seventh loss in the last eight games. Both teams now have identical records (6-11).
The game between Zalgiris Kaunas and Armani Milano will take place in another date, as the Italians are dealing with several Covid-19 cases.
