The Serbian team dominated the final period to erase a 12-point deficit and celebrate a big win
Fourth-quarter whirlwind propelled Crvena Zvezda over Milan
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Regular Season
Round 22 of 38
Regular Season
EA7 Emporio Armani MilanEA7
96104
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet BelgradeCZV
Overview
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade took what might turn out to be a big step towards clinching a EuroLeague postseason berth after an epic fourth-quarter comeback saw the Serbian team grind out a 96-104 road win at EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Thursday.
The outcome lifted Zvezda to 12-10 while Milan dropped to 11-11 after a rip-roaring dogfight in which Milan looked the more likely winner through three quarters of the matchup. However, Zvezda stormed back in the fourth, driven by big performances in the last 10 minutes of the game from Jared Butler and Nikola Kalinic, with the latter’s defensive heroics inspiring free-flowing offense as the visitors dominated the final period 14-34.
Jordan Nwora paced Zvezda on 22 points but was scoreless in the home straight when Butler caught fire while Kalinic came up with a flurry of blocks, steals and rebounds to complement his 10 points as Zvezda overran the hosts.
Butler and Chima Moneke chipped in with 18 points each and Codi Miller-McIntyre racked up 15 points, 8 boards and 7 assists as he pulled all the strings on offense, while he also shined on the defensive end in the second half.
“That’s what happens when you stick together as a team and keep believing in ourselves,” a delighted Miller-McIntyre said in his postgame comments. “A few losses don’t define this team and if you fight, you’ll always have the opportunity. I am proud of this team and how we responded today.”
Zvezda bounced back from a pair of crushing defeats at Zalgiris Kaunas (99-67) and at home to Valencia Basket (89-106), with its porous first half defense suggesting another drubbing was in the making as Milan led 55-44 at the interval. However, trailing 82-70 at the end of the third quarter, Zvezda flipped the script with a 1-15 run early in the fourth and had more in the tank in the last few minutes, showing nerves of steel to delight its travelling contingent of away fans.
“Basketball is like life. Sometimes you’re down in the first half and you’ve got to keep believing in yourself,” said Butler. “Sometimes you can’t even look at the score, but tonight we did a good job for our team. The biggest thing for us is to believe in ourselves and what we are doing,” he added.
Head coach Sasa Obradovic attributed the win to his team showing mettle and character when the chips were down. “The result was not in our favor, but we didn’t stop playing,” the tactician said. “We won this game thanks to great character and this is how it’s supposed to work for us.
“As a coach you should always give some good vibrations to your team and we found a good connection. Milan played with great confidence in the first half, but the fourth quarter is what we will take from this game as an example of the way we should play.”
Milan head coach Peppe Poeta was disappointed after seeing his team spill the goods acquired in a pair of wins at home over Anadolu Efes Istanbul and particularly on the road against champs Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens.
“We played three good quarters, but it’s not enough, you’ve got to play four against good teams,” he said. “We had a bad fourth quarter, no defense, we lost our energy and that’s what happens. We led by 13 through great offense, we had 22 assists but in the fourth they got their momentum and we had no answer.”
Milan paid the price for allowing Zvezda 17 offensive rebounds as the Serbian outfit also managed 9 steals, compensating for a modest 9-of-25 shooting from deep as it also forced 12 turnovers from Milan. Shavon Shields led a pack of five Milan players who scored in double figures as he sank 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, but the hosts ultimately came up short against a more energetic Zvezda roster.
