With the playoffs fast approaching, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade’s comprehensive 90-75 victory over league-leading Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday night showed not only that the Serbian team is well on track to appear in the postseason, but also that it will be a major threat to its opponent when the playoffs get going.
Coach Zeljko Obradovic’s team was very much a worthy winner after producing a well-rounded performance of alert, intense defense, great ball movement and tempo on offense, and accurate shooting from all positions. Field goal percentages of 54.3% from two-point range, 41.4% on three-pointers and 88.9% from the foul line start to tell the story of the game, and other statistics – 22 assists with just 10 turnovers committed, 8 steals to force a total of 15 turnovers, and a team PIR of 104 – add to the conclusion that this was an excellent all-round display. And that is further underlined by the fact that five players scored in double digits, led by James Nunnally with 19 points.
Even when Partizan suffered early in the third quarter, failing to score for more than 4 minutes and allowing Olympiacos to go on a 2-12 run and get back within 4 points, there was no sense of panic. Instead, Dante Exum’s three-pointer served as the catalyst for another charge which took the game out of the Reds’ reach long before the final buzzer.