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The star of the night wasn’t wearing the Barça colors. Patty Mills delivered a phenomenal performance, the kind you remember for years. 36 points, a string of impossible three-pointers, and a determination that bordered on the epic. The Australian had moments when he seemed capable of single-handedly taking down Xavi Pascual’s team, and in the final quarter, he came very close to doing just that. He tied the game when it seemed Barça had the night wrapped up, and his personal tally had already reached 28 points with seven minutes remaining. It wasn’t enough.

The first quarter had already signaled that the evening would be tough. Mills started strong from the opening minute, sinking three three-pointers, and the visitors took the lead at the end of the period. Txus Vidorreta had opted to give the ball to the point guard from the start, and the Australian responded with authority. However, Tenerife had a structural problem that no individual player could solve: rebounding. The Blaugrana doubled the Canaries in that statistic, scoring as many in attack as the islanders in total, and that difference ended up being decisive.