After a disappointing defeat at ASVEL on Tuesday, the Serbian side redeemed itself with a vintage performance in Round 21.
Unpredictable Crvena Zvezda turned the heat on Milan as trio shined
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Regular Season
Round 21 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet has blown hot and cold this season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, but its latest display was an impressive one as it responded to its 100-91 loss at second-from-bottom LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne by beating a rising EA7 Emporio Armani Milan side 62-78 at the Forum.
Thursday night’s victory completed a topsy-turvy double-round week for Zvezda, with the Serbian side winning three of its last four games and rekindling its hopes of making the postseason as it improved to a 9-11 record.
The ASVEL game aside, Zvezda is building momentum
Zvezda treated its fans to a cold shower at ASVEL on Tuesday but the club’s faithful will be delighted with road wins at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and Milan, which complemented an 88-72 home drubbing of bitter city foe Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.
Milan, which missed four key players through injury, dropped to 9-11 and its head coach Ettore Messina succinctly summed up why his men looked like fish out of water against a fired-up Zvezda team.
“We had no energy tonight,” Messina said in a flash post-game interview. “We made too many mistakes on offense and defense to have a chance to win this game.”
That just about summed up proceedings, as Zvezda served up a massive 4-23 streak to take a 19-37 lead in the second quarter and never looked back. The visitors thrived from spectacular performances by playmaker Milos Teodosic, forward Rokas Giedraitis and center Joel Bolomboy, as the trio dominated at both ends of the court.
Having given up an avalanche of points against ASVEL, Zvezda shored up its defensive leaks and stifled out Milan with super-aggressive half-court pressure, which forced a barrage of turnovers. Milan committed 15 while managing only 14 assists, having made just 6-of-22 shots from downtown.
Zvezda’s reliable trio stepped up
Player of the game Giedraitis, who racked up 22 points and 6 rebounds, was quick to point out that the ASVEL fiasco had galvanized Zvezda to put its game face on at Milan.
“Our mindset was on defense first of all because after the loss to ASVEL, we needed to step up,” said the Lithuanian sharpshooter.
“Everybody did a great job and we deserved to win today. We knew after the opening two quarters that they were going to step up. This is Milan, they fight until the end, but we responded.”
Teodosic posted 9 points and 5 assists, including a no-look pass over the top which found Dejan Davidovac unmarked for a three-pointer late in the second quarter.
Teodosic’s display also prompted Bolomboy to heap praise on the 36-year-old veteran, who seems to have been given a second lease of life at Zvezda as he keeps rolling back the years against the competition’s big guns.
“He definitely makes life easier, especially on the offensive end,” said Bolomboy, who amassed 14 points and 6 boards. “He is able to facilitate, he makes the right reads all the time and has the ability to shoot. We were disappointed after the game against ASVEL as we conceded 100 points, so coming into this game, the mindset was to focus on defense.”
Head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos also underscored that defense was key to victory at Milan, with Zvezda racking up 37 rebounds (11 offensive) and forcing Milan to take a barrage of tough shots from all angles.
Shabazz Napier, who had hoped to do some damage after an acrimonious split with Zvezda last month, was especially ineffective as he managed a mere 6 points on 2-of-10 shooting from the floor. Napier had joined Zvezda from Milan during the offseason but returned to Italy after several difficult months in Belgrade, including a 71-93 Milan win in the reverse fixture when Napier still donned Zvezda’s jersey.
“We reacted really well to the defeat at ASVEL and proved to ourselves, first and foremost, that we can play good defense,” Sfairopoulos commented. “We allowed only 62 points and controlled the game with our good defense. [Branko] Lazic did a great job on that end today, as consistent defense is the most important thing whether a player scores or not.”