Aleksa Avramovic came good in crunch time for Partizan

A season which started in anguish for Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade’s Aleksa Avramovic has finally delivered a handsome reward for the hard-working point guard. Avramovic, who missed the first half of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season due to a serious hand injury, shined in Friday’s 84-88 win at AS Monaco, which sent the 1992 champion into the playoffs with a game to spare.
Partizan will soon get to taste postseason basketball for the first time since 2010, when the Serbian team reached the Final Four and lost both of its games at the showcase event in Paris.
"Avramovic surprised us. He had an extraordinary game," Monaco head coach Sasa Obradovic admitted after Partizan's Round 33 victory at Salle Gaston Medecin.
Nevertheless, it has been a long road back for Avramovic. The 28-year-old's ordeal started last August during Serbia’s build-up for EuroBasket 2022, where it was knocked out in the Round of 16 by Italy. The point guard from the central city of Cacak was helpless as he watched the fiasco unfold from afar.
He returned to action in mid-December in Partizan’s dramatic 72-73 road win at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, when he nailed the game-winning free throw to leave the home crowd at Ulker Sports and Event Hall stunned.
With the likes of Kevin Punter, Yam Madar and Dante Exum comprising one of the EuroLeague's strongest backcourts, Avramovic always faced stiff competition for minutes on the court in games against Europe’s elite clubs.
His way back to full fitness was painstaking, but against Monaco, Avramovic delivered one of his best performances in a Partizan jersey. With Exum, Punter and Madar stifled out by a physical Monaco team, Avramovic stepped up to the plate in grand style, pouring 22 points to go with 3 assists as he tore apart a stingy home defense with a wide variety of weapons.
Avramovic mixed three-pointers with dazzling drives to the basket and cool shooting from the foul line, lifting Partizan back into the game after an early 12-2 deficit. He then kept the visitors ahead in the third quarter in the wake of a fierce Monaco onslaught and finally forced the final twist alongside Zach LeDay, who also scored 22 points, after the hosts had turned the tide.
Avramovic stressed in a post-game interview that the win was a result of a cohesive team effort. He also pointed out the possibility that Partizan could lock horns with Monaco again in the playoffs. The French side is assured of finishing fourth at the end of the regular season after next week’s Round 34, while Partizan could finish fifth if it beats Panathinaikos Athens at home, although that possibility is dependent on other results.
“We’ve secured a playoff berth and depending on how the results pan out in the last round, it seems we could even finish the regular season in fifth place and face Monaco again in the playoffs,” Avramovic noted. “It was a great team effort and we were focused, even though we didn’t play so well in the opening five minutes. We made some shots and played good defense against a very good and talented team. We knew that we’d have to be at our best to beat a team with so much potential, and that’s how we made it into the top eight.”