The Serbian side celebrated its sixth successive win as it prevailed in a bruising encounter
Relentless Crvena Zvezda keeps going after dislodging stubborn Maccabi
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 8 of 38
Regular Season
Maccabi Rapyd Tel AvivMTA
9299
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet BelgradeCZV
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade earned its sixth straight win and improved to 6-2 after yet another gritty performance under new coach Sasa Obradovic, who keeps getting the best out of a short-handed roster missing several key players.
With Jordan Nwora joining a long list of casualties sidelined by injuries, Zvezda dug deep to engineer a 92-99 win at Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv in Belgrade’s Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, a venue the Serbian side is all too familiar with, although it’s the Israeli side’s temporary home.
Obradovic, who took over from Ioannis Sfairopoulos after the Greek tactician lost the opening two games, saw his men save their best for last as they excelled when the chips were down. Having led 48-58 at halftime, Zvezda threw away the advantage as Maccabi’s aggressive defense turned the tide and gave the home team an 81-78 lead early in the fourth quarter. However, Zvezda had more left in the tank during the home stretch as playmaker Codi Miller-McIntyre stood out with 23 points and 12 assists, hitting clutch shots and dishing out passes like confetti to his teammates.
Boasting a variety of players able to step up to the plate, Zvezda saw Ebuka Izundu feature as Thursday night’s trump card as the big man came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points - 11 of them in the fourth quarter when the visitors engineered the decisive push to force the final twist. Izundu also racked up 7 boards in a game played at a torrid pace from start to finish, with Zvezda feeling at home throughout as 1,000 of the Serbian outfit’s fans provided fervent support.
Still, Miller-McIntyre felt the overall display left a lot to be desired after Zvezda’s offense was ground to a halt for long spells in the second half, allowing Maccabi to jump into the driver's seat before Izundu’s late heroics produced a happy ending for the visiting team.
“I am happy we won, but we’ve got to play better defense,” Miller-McIntyre said in his post-game comments. “After we went down by 2 points, we did a lot of talking, stuck together and did what we had to do to win the game. We haven’t done anything yet, it’s not yet playoff time or the Final Four, so we have to continue to prove it and come out every single night to play hard defense,” he added.
Chima Moneke contributed with 16 points and 8 boards for Zvezda and Donatas Moteijunas added 11 points as the visitors collected a mind-blowing 50 rebounds, 24 of which came on the offensive end against a physical Maccabi defense. Coach Obradovic acknowledged that an industrious team effort was crucial in overpowering a battling Maccabi, which never gave up and at one point threatened to turn the game on its head.
“We found a way even when we weren’t playing well as we made small adjustments during the game and showed a big heart,” said Obradovic. “We played a great first half and should have been more than 10 points ahead, but the important thing is that we won with a shorthanded roster after forcing the final twist in the fourth quarter.
"We’ve got room to improve defensively, but tonight we beat an awkward opponent and I am very happy with the win.”
It was another bitter pill to swallow for Maccabi head coach Oded Kattash, whose team has been on the receiving end of several close games that haven’t gone the Israeli team’s way. Kattash acknowledged that a poor first half on the defensive end cost Maccabi as the hosts conceded a barrage of early 3-pointers, with Zvezda scoring 33 points in the first quarter.
“We lost the game in the first half because of how we started the game defensively,” said a grim-looking Kattash.
“We adapted a bit in the third quarter and we managed to slow them down, but it wasn’t enough as we need to be consistent for 40 minutes against good teams like Red Star.”
