  Playing its second game of the Euroleague Basketball American Tour '08 in less than 24 hours, Regal FC Barcelona took another strong run at becoming the first European winner against an NBA team on U.S. soil before running out of gas in a down-to-the-wire 114-109 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Barcelona led early but had to play catchup for much of the game, coming as close as a single basket several times in the fourth quarter, but never taking over the lead again. Barcelona didn't live on three-pointers as the night before in losing by less to the Lakers. This time, both teams hit 10 from the arc, and the difference proved to be the Clippers making 11 more foul shots, 38 of 56 to Barcelona's 27 of 30 at the line. Al Thornton led the Clippers with 23 points, including 15-for-20 free-throw shooting and 11 rebounds. Ricky Davis added 16 points, Eric Gordon and Cuttino Mobley 13 each, and Steve Novak 12 for the winners. For Barcelona, Ersan Ilyasov led the way with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Jaka Lakovic added 19 points and 7 assists. David Andersen was good for 15 points, Roger Grimau 13 and Juan Carlos Navarro 11.
Ilyasova and Navarro started the scoring for Barcelona with open layups. Andre Barrett took a pass from Navarro for the game's first three-pointer and joined Ilyasova in hitting 2 free throws each as the visitors raced ahead 2-11. Jason Hart, Mobley, Thornton and Brian Skinner all scored for the Clippers around a drop-in by Daniel Santiago, making it 10-13. The Clippers got to the line again before Thornton and Davis completed a 15-2 run with a jumper that put the hosts ahead 17-13. David Andersen stopped the bleeding for Barcelona with a long jumper to which Lakovic added free throws. When Andersen drove, hooked and hit the free throw that came with it, the visitors had a new lead, 19-20. Thornton, Davis and Mike Taylor put the Clippers back in front by 26-22, but a Lakovic triple got Barcelona within 27-25 after 12 minutes.
 Fran Vazquez opened the second quarter tying with free throws, starting a back-and-forth scoring series in which Novak's three-pointer meant a 34-32 difference for the Clippers. Vazquez hooked to tie again, but Jelani McCoy's dunk and twin three-pointers by Novak and Gordon bested one by Grimau. And when Novak hit a another as part of a four-point play, the Clips had a double-digit edge, 48-36. Grimau kept up the good fight with another tirple and a breakdown move, spinning hook shot and free throw that made for a 53-42 scoreboard. Taylor kept getting in the lane and feeding his teammates for dunks or fouls, and Grimau kept pumping from long distance. His third triple of the quarter and a shade shorter shot by Lakovic lowering the difference to 59-51, forcing a Clippers timeout. Navarro rejoined the scoring with 6 foul shots and fed Santiago for a dunk, but that was off-set by Thornton carrying the Clippers to a 67-59 edge at halftime.
Barcelona's tiredness was apparent at the start of the second half, as the Clippers reeled off 7 unanswered points before Ilyasova made it 75-62 on free throws and a reverse layup. Ilyasova kept sparking the visitors with an inside layup and several defensive rebounds as the Clippers started missing. Grimau's free throws and another Ilyasova put-back cut the difference to 78-72 midway through the third quarter. Barça failed in a couple opportunities to get closer, collecting turnovers and failing to move the ball well, but neither did the Clippers take advantage. As such, when Navarro re-emerged with a triple, Gianluca Basile followed him from downtown and Lakovic fired from the arc after a blocked shot landed in his hands, Barcelona was closer than at any time since the first half, within 85-88 after 36 minutes.
 Barcelona tried to fight through fatigue to start the final quarter, and when Lakovic hit a streaking Jordi Trias for a layup and downed a jumper off a screen, it was 91-89. Thornton went one-on-one twice in a row, scoring all 4 points and fouling out Vazquez in the process. It remained close, however, until Gordon bombed from deep on consecutive possessions to make it 102-93. Barcelona's shots were coming up short and head coach Xavi Pascual was searching for fresh bodies to mount a last charge. Lakovic kept it close with another three-pointer at 102-97. Next, off a timeout, Lubos Barton buried one from deep, making it 102-100. Ilyasova, Barrett and Barton all tried to take the lead from downtown, but again Barcelona could not push ahead. Gordon got to the basket twice for layups after that, but Barça's shots wouldn't drop, and when Novak hit again from behind the arc, it was 109-100. Although Ilyasova scored twice in a row, the Clippers only had to finish at the foul line, but Taylor made just 2 of 4 on two trips. That allowed Ilyasova to bomb from deep and dunk off an inbounds pass to make it 109-111 with 24 seconds left, but Mobley and Taylor made 3 more free throws to leave Barça with too few possessions to complete its comeback.
Regal FC Barcelona head coach Xavier Pascual
"It was a little bit of a different game tonight because we were a little more consistent and more competitive during the whole game without so many ups and downs, save for a few in the second quarter. We're a little happier with this game, above all in this second half when our defense was much better. It's a shame that the NBA rules influence us a bit because we committed 15 more fouls than them and they shot 26 more free throws than us because we lacked the time to adapt. I think they used most of their best guys until the end and we were there fighting until the end. We're happy with how it went. You never feel good when you lose, but we leave with some good feelings and now within three days we start the Euroleague after flying tonight on the court of Nancy, which is now our most important game in the group as the first one. After that we have Panathinaikos and Siena in a row, so let's see if we're able to rebound mentally and prepare ourselves for the game in Nancy. Without a doubt we are still a team building itself with a long road ahead. We have things to improve upon, like turnovers, like some defensive aspects and blocking out for rebounds, but we're on the right path."
Regal FC Barcelona forward Ersan Ilyasova
"It feels exciting. It's not easy to fly across the ocean and in two or three days to play great teams like the Clippers and the Lakers. I think we did really well, but they got an extra couple of calls from the referees. If we try to compare, I think we did like really good on the defensive part. It's exciting to be here for such a well-organized event between the Euroleague and the NBA, to see the difference between European and NBA teams. We're looking forward to going back to Barcelona and Euroleague games. We’ll see what happens next. We were tired, but when you are a professional, you work out well, rest in the hotel. The doctor looks after us well. It's not easy, but we try to stay positive, save our energy and play well. I think we're going to come together as a team and learn more plays and with the season starting it's great for us to play as we have against the Lakers and the Clippers."
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