Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade finished its participation in the 2021-22 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in style, downing defending champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul 93-85 in a spectacular game.
Telling numbers: Zvezda boxes out, avoids mistakes
Zvezda dominated the boards, in which arguably was the biggest key to the outcome. The hosts outrebounded Efes by 31-26, and only allowed their opponents to pull down 4 off the offensive glass. Zvezda finished the game with 19 defensive boards, which means it grabbed 82.6% of the rebounds under its own rim. On the other hand, Efes had 22 defensive rebounds and allowed Zvezda to get 12 offensive boards, giving the Turkish team only 64.7% of all possible defensive rebounds. Efes hit 75% of its two-point shots, 27-of-36, its third-best mark in EuroLeague history, but that was not enough to win the game.
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Zvezda also made a lot of shots in the paint, 28, taking many more attempts (48) than its opponent. The hosts also took much better care of the ball, finishing with 22 assists and just 8 turnovers. Efes had the same numbers of assists, 22, but picked up 14 turnovers. Zvezda had 8 steals, twice as many as Efes (4). On an individual level, Nikola Kalinic registered 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, coming close to being the third player in competition history to record a triple-double.