ALBA Berlin enjoyed a historic night offensively during its 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season opener against Partizan Mozart Bet Belgrade, as it romped to a 100-84 victory over the EuroLeague returnees.
ALBA makes history in opening win over returnee Partizan
ALBA was clicking on all cylinders for the entire 40 minutes, setting a club record with 61 first-half points and tying its team mark with 31 assists. Tamir Blatt scored a team-high 16 points for ALBA, while Luke Sikma collected 15 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists and Louis Olinde tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds. Dante Exum finished with 22 points for Partizan in the team’s first EuroLeague game in eight years.
Exum recorded 11 early points for Partizan as it drew level at 16-16, but ALBA then raced away by going on a 30-4 run to take a 26-point lead. Partizan managed to trim the gap to 15 points at one point, but it trailed 61-43 at halftime. Partizan picked up its play in the third quarter and pulled within 10 points at 64-54, yet ALBA weathered the storm and led 77-61 after 30 minutes. Partizan tried to make it interesting in the last quarter, but ALBA showed character to see home the victory in style.