Oklahoma City edges FC Barcelona Lassa in NBA Global Games

Oklahoma City Thunder wrapped up its trip to Spain by downing Turkish Airlines EuroLeague powerhouse FC Barcelona Lassa 89-92 at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, as part of this season's NBA Global Games on Wednesday. Oklahoma City completes its trip to Spain with a 1-1 record after losing in overtime to Real Madrid 142-137 on Monday. Short-handed Barcelona, which was without four injured players, Tyrese Rice, Petteri Koponen, Shane Lawal and Pau Ribas, saw its three-game home winning streak against NBA teams come to an end. Despite its many injuries, Barcelona led the game throughout the first half, taking a 17-15 edge on an alley-oop slam by Joey Dorsey and extending it to 45-36 on a turnaround jumper by Brad Oleson. Oklahoma City closed to within 47-45 at halftime and took the lead, 58-65, behind a solid performance from Russell Westbrook. Back-to-back triples by Victor Claver and Juan Carlos Navarro helped Barcelona regain the lead at 68-67 at the end of the third quarter. An outstanding Claver gave Barcelona an 84-78 lead, but former Barcelona guard Alex Abrines and Enes Kanter put Oklahoma City ahead 89-90 in the final minute. Sasha Vezenkov missed twice from downtown in the final seconds and Oklahoma City escaped with the win. Kanter led the winners with 24 points and Westbrook added 12 for Oklahoma City. Claver led all scorers with 25 points, Vezenkov added 13 while Tomic and Oleson each had 10 for Barcelona.