Valencia Basket ties the Liga Endesa Finals by winning Game 2 against Barça (102-75)

ValenciaBasket tied their Endesa League Finals series at one game apiece with a 102-75victory in Game 2. The game was a tale of two halves, with nearly 15,000 fanspacking the Roig Arena. The home crowd enjoyed Valencia's performance, whichdictated the pace throughout the game, with the exception of the secondquarter, which was the visitors' best. The Valencia team quickly took controlwith a strong start and a defensive effort that held Barça scoreless for overfive minutes. Barça improved as the game progressed, but a moment of offensiveinspiration from Sima extended Valencia's lead at the end of the first quarter.The visitors' defense improved, forcing turnovers and preventing ValenciaBasket from finding their rhythm. They cut the deficit first with points fromParra and then with Laprovittola's offensive contribution, giving the home teama seven-point lead at halftime. After the break, the defense tightened upagain, and Valencia Basket capitalized on the Catalan side's shooting woes,going on an 18-4 run to extend their lead. Costello and Moore then stepped upoffensively to push the advantage to over twenty points, and a strong start tothe final quarter saw them extend it to over twenty with five minutesremaining. At that point, both teams were already focused on the third game ofthe series, which will be played on Monday at the Palau Blaugrana.

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