Valencia secured a home victory in the seventh round of the Endesa League by defeating Barcelona with a score of 71-68 and great game by Chris Jones, handing them their second loss in the domestic championship.
After this round, Valencia is second with one loss, while Barcelona has dropped to third place after losing to Valencia following their defeat to Real Madrid.
Valencia led for most of the game against Barcelona, who managed to tie the game in the final moments.
A dramatic finish unfolded in Valencia. With 24 seconds left, Alex Abrines made a three-pointer to tie the game at 68-68. On the other side, Chris Jones took the ball, and he was fouled with just 4.7 seconds left. Jones cleverly drew a foul on his three-point attempt and made all three free throws to give Valencia a 71-68 lead. On the other end, despite Valencia having three fouls to give before the bonus, they didn’t foul Abrines, who had an open three-point attempt to force overtime, but he missed.
Jones led Valencia with 17 points, while Brandon Davies scored 11, Jared Harper had 10, and Stefan Jovic finished the game with four points and four assists. For Barcelona, Willy Hernangomez was the top scorer with 22 points, and Nikola Kalinic contributed 15.
Baskonia continued to struggle, with their poor results from the EuroLeague carrying over to the Endesa League. Andorra defeated them 85-68 at home, marking Baskonia’s second consecutive loss in the domestic league and their fifth loss in a row, considering their EuroLeague results. Former Igokea player Markel Starks led Andorra with 15 points, while Stanley Okoye added one less. On the other side, Cody Miller-Mcintyre was the top scorer for Baskonia with 16 points, Vanja Marinkovic contributed 15, and Tadas Sedekerskis added 13 points. Baskonia also faced a problem as Markus Howard suffered an injury during the match.
A thrilling game took place between Bilbao and Tenerife, with the visiting team securing a 94-93 victory in overtime.
Jaime Fernandez led the winners with 20 points, Marcelinho Huertas scored 14, and Dusan Ristic added 11 points. For the home team, Adam Smith scored 19, and Sacha Killeya–Jones contributed 14 points.