On his 34th birthday, Nico Laprovittola made sure to celebrate in style with a decisive win.
Birthday boy Laprovittola made the difference for Barca
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Regular Season
Round 24 of 34
Group Regular Season
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In a direct battle for second place in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season standings, FC Barcelona thrashed Virtus Segafredo Bologna 84-57 on a special night for one of its stars.
It was Nico Laprovittola's 34th birthday and he made sure to celebrate it in style, playing a good game and allowing Barca to win the game and get the potential tiebreak advantage against Virtus.
Laprovittola was full of confidence all night long. When he hit his second three-pointer, the Argentine was so sure that the ball would go in that he turned around and started running to the defensive end before it went in. The shot hit nothing but the net. He buried 3 three-pointers before the break, adding a fourth one and a big, rare basket in the low post that broke the game open, 50-31.
"I think we played with the same energy for 40 minutes: very good energy, very good intensity, and I think we dominated the game against a very tough team," Laprovittola said after the game. "We are good. We are second now. We have to keep going in the same way, working hard as every day. I think we are in a good dynamic."
Laprovittola finished the game with 16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and a PIR of 15. He had been held scoreless in each of his last two games, before and after a small injury that kept him out from Rounds 20 to 22.
Barca's energy was proved in the rebounds stats. The hosts outrebounded Virtus 17-31, pulling down 16 offensive boards against Virtus's 20 defensive rebounds. That means that Virtus did not grab 55.6% of the rebounds under its rim. Barca finished the game with 31 defensive rebounds, matching its season-high, allowing the guests to get just 11 offensive boards. Therefore, Barca grabbed 73.8% of all rebounds under its own basket.
Barca finished the game with 18 points and 10 assists, and forced Virtus to shoot just 4-for-25 from downtown for a season-low 16%. All that allowed Laprovittola to celebrate his birthday in style!