In the deciding game of the ABA League finals, Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade defeated Partizan NIS Belgrade 80-77 to win the title and earn a ticket for the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season. Meanwhile, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne is the first finalist of the French League playoffs after sweeping JDA Dijon in their best-of-five semifinals series.
Domestic Leagues: Zvezda wins ABA League, punches EuroLeague ticket
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Adriatic: Zvezda wins the trophy
Crvena Zvezda won its third consecutive ABA League crown with a victory in a dramatic Game 5 of the final series against its arch-rival. Partizan led for majority of the first half behind Kevin Punter, and one of his three-pointers extend the margin to 25-32 in the second quarter. Zvezda stepped it up another notch on defense, which led to easy fastbreak baskets from Stefan Markovic and Austin Hollins and cutting the deficit to a single point before Zach LeDay's triple made it 33-37 at halftime. With a lot on the line, second half brought plenty of tension, and emptying of the gym with game tied at 39-39. Mathias Lessort scored inside and Punter from the outside for Partizan's 42-47 lead, but Hollins, Ognjen Dobric and Dejan Davidovac each hit a three-pointer that got Zvezda in front, 59-58 going into the fourth quarter. Team traded blows, with Zvezda opening a 3-point lead, but a triple from Dallas Moore and a three-point play from Punter put Partizan in front, 72-73 with 2:40 to go. But Nikola Kalinic, in foul-trouble the entire game, answered with a three-pointer with 1:35 left, then Nate Wolters followed up with his only triple of the game to make it 78-75. Partizan had 9.5 for the final possession, but Punter's three-point attempt was off and Zvezda celebrated big victory. Davidovac led Zvezda with 15 points, Wolters had 12 points and 7 assists, Kalinic finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds while Mitrovic scored 10 in a victory. Punter netted 27 points, Aleksa Avramovic had 12 and Moore scored 11 points, while Lessort pulled down 13 rebounds in a losing effort.
France: ASVEL sweeps through semifinals
ASVEL ran past Dijon 61-73 on Monday, for a 3-0 series win and now awaits the winner of the other semifinal series in which AS Monaco holds 2-0 lead against Pau Orthez. In Game 3, ASVEL used a huge second quarter to blow the game wide open. Paul Lacombe started things with a three-pointer and a steal sparking a 2-10 run that David Lighty capped with a triple to open 21-31 lead. Lighty and a three-point play from Elie Okobo fueled a 0-10 run that helped ASVEL to go into halftime with a 29-49 lead. ASVEL never looked back in the second half, increasing the margin to 39-66 going into the fourth quarter, easing to victory. Okobo finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Lighty and Chris Jones scored 11 apiece and William Howard had 10 points in a victory.
Germany: Bayern to play semifinal decider
FC Bayern Munich and Telekom Baskets Bonn will play a deciding game of their best-of-five semifinals series after Bonn held on to an 80-83 road win in Game 4 on Monday. It was fourth road win in as many games of this series. Contest was a blow-for-blow affair where Bonn's 2-8 game-opening lead was the largest margin until late in the fourth quarter. There was just one other lead larger than 2 points the entire first half, when Bonn opened 44-48 in the penultimate minute of the second quarter. But Vladimir Lucic ended the first half with a three-pointer and Nick Weiler-Babb scored 7 points early in the third, including a triple and a tip-in to give Bayern its largest lead of the game at that point, 60-56. But Bonn went back in front with a 0-10 run, which included back-to-back threes from Saulius Kulvietis and Jeremy Morgan. A triple from Augustine Rubit and a three-point play from Nihad Dedovic tied things at 70-70 in the fourth, but Bonn replied with 8 consecutive points, run capped with an alley-oop dunk from Javontae Hawkins. Weiler-Babb scored 5 points, all from the foul line, to help cut the deficit to 77-80, but a three from Parker Jackson-Cartwright gave Bonn enough breathing room to hold on and force a deciding Game 5. Weiler-Babb finished with 16 points, Rubit collected 13 points plus 8 rebounds, and Lucic also scored 13 in a loss. Bonn's Jackson-Cartwright was game's top scorer with 20 points.