The Latvian sharpshooter started the game hot and led Dubai to a historic victory
Davis Bertans had a dream EuroLeague return
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Regular Season
Round 1 of 38
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Dubai BasketballDUB
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Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
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If Davis Bertans had tried to script his EuroLeague return, it probably wouldn’t have gone any better than this.
The sharpshooting forward – playing in Europe’s top competition for the first time since the 2016 Final Four with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz – made his comeback on Tuesday night, and the moment couldn’t have been more meaningful.
Not only was he returning to the EuroLeague but he was doing so in Dubai, with a brand-new team making its competition debut, and against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, the club where he became a fan favorite and is still considered “one of their own”.
But if Bertans felt any nerves, nostalgia, or pressure – from making his EuroLeague return after nearly a decade, from facing his former team, or from stepping into a pioneering moment for basketball in the Gulf region – it didn’t show.
In fact, if any of his teammates were overwhelmed by the spotlight, all they had to do was follow his lead.
Bertans, who turns 33 later this month, was locked in from the opening tip. Just 20 seconds into the game, he nailed a turnaround jumper – nothing but net – on Dubai’s first possession. Not only did it make him the first-ever scorer in club history at the EuroLeague level, but it also opened the floodgates.
He followed up with three straight three-pointers and had 11 points in the first five minutes alone, pushing Dubai to an early double-digit lead and injecting the team with confidence and rhythm.
Dubai rode the momentum, draining its first seven three-point attempts – six of them in the first quarter – and setting the tone with crisp ball movement and fearless shot-making.
“It gives us confidence,” Bertans said afterward in a EuroLeague TV interview. “If we play the right way, we share the ball – the offense is going to be good most nights.”
Partizan did claw back, even briefly taking the lead early in the third quarter, but from that point on it was all Dubai.
Bertans led the way, finishing with 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep, along with 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
He was one point shy of his EuroLeague career high, tied his personal best for threes made in a game, and posted a career-high 26 PIR – all in a 13-point win in the club’s EuroLeague debut.
Yes, that’s what you call a dream game.