Sfairopoulos’s men traveled to Greece without Joel Bolomboy, Filip Petrusev and Luka Mitrovic
Crvena Zvezda overcame frontcourt absences to grab morale-boosting win
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 30 of 34
Group Regular Season
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All odds were against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade on Thursday evening. The Serbian team traveled to Greece without their three bigs, Joel Bolomboy, Filip Petrusev and Luka Mitrovic, with the former two also being their standout players this season. Zvezda headed into the game on the back of a three-game losing streak against an Olympiacos Piraeus side that had won 13 of its previous 14 games.
Yet, when the 10 starters stepped onto the floor, the visitors demonstrated that none of this really mattered. Zvezda held the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague’s second-best offense (87.4 ppg. before Thursday's game) to just 8 points in the first quarter and a home season-low 73 points after 40 minutes.
Ioannis Sfairopoulos was forced to deploy small-ball lineups that stretched the floor and confused Olympiacos. The visitors fired on all cylinders, having gone 13 of 26 from deep and out-Olympiacos’ed the hosts by recording 24 assists on 27 made field goals. More impressively, despite the major frontcourt absences they protected the boards, grabbing 33 rebounds – just 1 fewer than Olympiacos.
Game Videos
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FC Bayern Munich-Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade | Play-In Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:11
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/4867c1bd-35a3-42c2-8835-0aebd34b479e.jpg?crop=1182%3A665%3Anowe%3A168%3A125]()
Petrusev with a ferocious dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://media-cdn.cortextech.io/d2db2da2-5747-4a2c-85d5-6c3fce493ffc.jpg]()
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens-Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade | RS Round 34 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:15
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Moses Wright: 'It's great to be back on the court'
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Olympiacos Piraeus-Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv | RS Round 34 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade-Anadolu Efes Istanbul | RS Round 33 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:37
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Alec Peters: 'Career high, but what's sticking with me are the zero rebounds'
![https://media-cdn.cortextech.io/be6165dc-c29e-4868-b8a1-699d05fd43f5.jpg]()
ALBA Berlin-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 33 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:26
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An audacious three-pointer from Yago! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:08
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Petrusev with a sublime alley-oop! Motorola Magic Moment
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade-Real Madrid | RS Round 32 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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Olympiacos Piraeus-AS Monaco | RS Round 32 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:10
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Filip Petrusev: 'We had great energy all game'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/9238fe42-4c6e-40c6-b57e-646ef163709f.jpg]()
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade-Virtus Segafredo Bologna | RS Round 31 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:11
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Miller-McIntyre steals and dunks! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/24e9a711-7855-4d48-ac51-d03088cd6fee.jpg]()
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 31 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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EuroLeague 25 Moments: Olympiacos and its historic 2012 comeback
- 00:41
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Rokas Giedraitis: 'We fought all game and that was the key'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/4fd3ed4b-eef6-4df8-9eb3-10155baf9ac2.jpg]()
Olympiacos Piraeus-Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade | RS Round 30 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:18
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Kalinic rejects Fournier! Motorola Magic Moment
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EuroLeague & Friends discuss All-25 team, Sylvain Francisco and the Greek derby
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EuroLeague Weekly, Round 30: This week's can’t miss battles
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Centers are the center of attention in this week's Fantasy Challenge Podcast
- 01:51
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Sasha Vezenkov: 'We want titles, not wins'
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Olympiacos Piraeus-Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens | RS Round 29 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:17
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Vezenkov’s magic dish! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:15
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Fall rejects Grant! Motorola Magic Moment
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan | RS Round 29 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:50
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Sasha Vezenkov: 'Kendrick Nunn is a great player and great person'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/4231fb9f-dd15-43c5-b147-efc54e77da08.jpg]()
Olympiacos Piraeus-Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade | RS Round 28 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:14
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McKissic rocks the rim! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/e7f1f129-ec3a-497f-9e6c-65c4ac9c9d06.jpg]()
FC Bayern Munich-Crvena Zvezda Meridanbet Belgrade | RS Round 28 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:17
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/9c935e40-57a8-46b4-8d3e-a902d73185f8.jpg?crop=1164%3A655%3Anowe%3A128%3A181]()
An almighty rejection from Bolomboy! Motorola Magic Moment
- 01:01
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Alec Peters: 'Our team is full of guys who can step up'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/38d5f87b-c509-44a7-9319-e0e9782a1260.jpg]()
Virtus Segafredo Bologna-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 27 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:09
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/4c5e5848-f6f3-45a7-819c-268992e72e04.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A135%3A146]()
Fall smashes the rim! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/3c5e7350-5e5b-4f28-952d-efcc090d35de.jpg]()
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade-Zalgiris Kaunas | RS Round 27 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:13
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/f4e873b6-a151-44b9-a4c9-2e51ed46cc45.jpg?crop=1080%3A608%3Anowe%3A122%3A70]()
Kalinic with the slam-dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:11
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/73a3b877-70b5-4da0-93b3-de41260e63d6.jpg?crop=1080%3A607%3Anowe%3A145%3A75]()
Bolomboy on the alley-oop! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:40
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2025/02/07/dmK3pvQY11GWnqmshrMxOtadNDpkx83W-1738972018913.jpg]()
Evan Fournier: 'I'm glad I made the shot'
![https://img.youtube.com/vi/36wIRtvtoZw/maxresdefault.jpg]()
FC Barcelona-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 26 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:34
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2025/02/07/u9gydDOVzsRGZcgr3rAnWYB5Qs2aPZxS-1738964414385.jpg]()
Fournier wins it on the buzzer! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 02:05
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2025/02/06/F8bKwIezvJbQDaXTwJZAcq0UgJXNFWTG-1738875332164.jpg]()
Joel Bolomboy: 'It took a team effort'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/e3a8e3cb-053b-44de-9a2d-39c692a5bb69.jpg]()
ALBA Berlin-Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade | RS Round 26 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:45
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2025/02/05/Dm7cl5hSm7cxwWEIpJwoQl5ggTietDwQ-1738798134357.jpg]()
Evan Fournier: 'The Olympiacos fans killed it tonight'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/e53061af-afcf-4c51-89a0-eb71b8b6f907.jpg]()
Paris Basketball-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 25 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 01:10
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Isaiah Canaan: 'Tonight was a team victory'
![https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/7e66cafc-6ccd-4ddb-8e11-9ab9c8fcdb8d.jpg]()
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade-LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne | RS Round 25 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:14
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Bolomboy’s hustle pays dividends! Motorola Magic Moment
- 01:34
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Filip Petrusev: 'We came for the win, we came to look good, and that's what we did'
“When we come out and are focused for 40 minutes, we can compete with anybody,” Codi Miller-McIntyre, who bagged a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards, told EuroLeague TV. “We’ve shown that multiple times during the season. We had a bad stretch these last few games, but it’s normal, it’s a long season. Many people probably didn’t believe that we could come out and win that game.”
Miller-McIntyre was not the only Zvezda player to step up big. Despite averaging fewer than 5 points per game in less than 15 minutes on the floor this season, Rokas Giedraitis exploded for a season-high 20 points, having gone 6-for-7 from deep in a season-high 32:41 minutes. He also recorded 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in one of his finest displays in a Zvezda jersey.
Giedraitis was assisted by an almost-perfect Dejan Davidovac, who went 4-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line – all 4 free throws netted in the closing stages. Another player who came to the fore was Isaiah Canaan, who scored 12 second-half points against his former team.
“We played against the best team in Europe so far,” Sfairopoulos said in the post-game press conference. “We had all these problems with the centers. But all the players gave their maximum to cover these absences.”
Three of Zvezda’s last four games, including the next three, are set to be played on home soil. Injury issues may not ease ahead of the upcoming double-round week, but as Miller-McIntyre stressed after that huge win in Greece, a focused Zvezda side can beat anybody.
