Real Madrid kept their unbeaten record alive in week 21, but the game of the round saw Barcelona win 74-69 away at Unicaja Malaga.
It took an off-balance three-pointer from Ryan Oleson to get the job done in Malaga in an enthralling game that saw Jacob Pullen hit a half-court hail-mary and Unicaja’s star man Zoran Dragic come off injured.
Oleson led the scoring for Barca as they stay third with 11 points. Carlos Suarez led all scorers but in vain for Malaga with 15.
Valencia stays in second, as they defeated Laboral Kutxa 67-55 at home. Bojan Dubljevic led the hosts with 17 points but are still behind runaway leaders Real Madrid, who beat Tenerife 87-76 in the Spanish capital.
Lamar Odom connected with a lay-up for his first points for Laboral Kutxa in the loss.
Estudiantes moved further of the drop zone with an 86-80 upset victory over Bilbao in Madrid.
Kyle Kuric had 24 for Estudiantes but are three wins behind Bilbao who are in 12th.
Gran Canaria’s inconsistent form continues as they lost 60-53 at home to Rio Natura Monbus. Alberto Corbacho led all scorers for the winners with 26 points, which included 7 three-pointers.
Joventut Badalona got back to winning ways with a comfortable 95-73 win over basement side Valladolid.
Tariq Kirksey led the Catalan side with 23 points.
Murcia have moved out of the bottom two with a convincing 93-73 win in Seville against Cajasol and Bruixa d’Or replace them as they lost 73-65 away at Gipuzkoa.
Zaragoza are still comfortable in the playoff spots, after they defeated Fuenlabrada 81-72 away from home.
Henk Norel led the winners with 14 points.
