The big man tied his career best with 25 points scored
Filip Petrusev was at his best for Zvezda in Monaco
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Regular Season
Round 9 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Just four games into the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, Olympiacos Piraeus granted Filip Petrusev his wish and loaned him out to his former team, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. On Tuesday, Petrusev showed why he was eager to join a club where he could get more playing time as the Serbian big man produced the best game of his EuroLeague career in a road win at AS Monaco.
Petrusev tied a career high with 25 points scored and set a personal best with a PIR of 38 as Zvezda held off Monaco 90-98. He had a great shooting night in making all 11 of his free throws, 4-of-6 two-pointers and 2-of-3 threes – with the missed triple being a forced shot with no time left on the shot clock. Petrusev also corralled 7 rebounds and added 1 assist and 1 steal.
To put Petrusev’s line in perspective, he had 20 points, 10 rebounds and a PIR of 7 in 43:28 minutes combined in his four games with Olympiacos.
Petrusev’s success should not surprise many. After all, he was tied for third on Serbia in PIR at the Olympic Games in Paris over the summer and was second in rebounds behind only NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. He came home from Paris with a bronze medal.
Despite failing to secure a key role with the Reds, Petrusev’s confidence was intact when he returned to Belgrade. Through four games with Zvezda, he has seen his minutes, points scored and PIR increase in every game thus far.
Against Monaco, Petrusev was a factor all night long. He scored 12 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in the first half and posted 13 and 4 in the second. He scored 8 points in the final 6 minutes, including 6 free throws to all but ice the game.
After this monster game in the principality, it is back to France for Petrusev on Thursday when he and Zvezda visit LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Rest assured, he is not overlooking that opponent: "We came here for two wins on this road trip and we have one more at ASVEL in two days, so we need to forget this game and focus on ASVEL tomorrow."
With Petrusev playing the way he did in Monaco, he and Zvezda can be a threat to every opponent as they seek their fourth road win of the campaign.