EuroLeague Live Blog: Friday, Round 21

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Live Blog: Baskonia wins in OT; Partizan grabs derby victory

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade v Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (2023-01-27T18:00:00.000Z)

Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz v Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2023-01-27T19:30:00.000Z)

Olympiacos Piraeus v Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (2023-01-27T19:30:00.000Z)

FC Bayern Munich v Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2023-01-27T19:45:00.000Z)

 Partizan battles for 78-79 road win in Belgrade derby 

A big battle of Belgrade's eternal rivals went to the road team again as Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade held off Crvena Zvezda Merdianbet Belgrade 78-79 at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall on Friday night. Both teams now have 10-11 records, but Zvezda holds a tiebreaker because it won the first game between these teams by 3 points. In this one, Partizan seemed in control the entire night, as it took the lead for good in the first quarter, however, it never led by more than 8 points. As the game was approaching the finish line, Zach LeDay kept the visitors in front before Kevin Punter and Dante Exum made free throws in the final 2 minutes to preserve the win.

LeDay scored 9 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 4 of 5 from long range on the night. Exum also scored 20, and had 5 assists, while Mathias Lessort collected 13 points plus 8 rebounds. Zvezda had Luca Vildoza shine with 26 points, and Nemanja Nedovic netted 23, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that could not have saved Zvezda from a loss, but did preserve the tiebreak advantage. Ognjen Dobric scored 13 for the hosts.

Game Videos

Zvezda had a better opening with Nedovic and Vildoza each knocking down a triple, but Partizan took the lead for good after 5 minutes. Lessort had 6 early points, and along with Exum fueled a 2-13 run that gave Partizan an 11-19 lead. Vildoza ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beating triple to cut it to 18-20, and the teams kept trading blows in the second quarter. Zvezda came within 30-31 behind Nedovic, who had 14 points before halftime, but a triple apiece from Kevin Punter and Yam Madar had Partizan up 34-40, and LeDay's three made it 37-45 at halftime.

Baskets were few and far between in the third quarter. Dobric and Exum traded three-pointers early, but Zvezda's defense held Partizan to just 6 points in the first 8 minutes of the quarter. Nedovic cut the score to 50-51, but Aleksa Avramovic and LeDay had three-pointer each in the final minute of the third to give Partizan some breathing room at 54-57 entering the fourth. Alen Smailagic's hustle plays extended the difference to 54-61, but back-to-back threes from Dobric helped make it 62-63. But Partizan found answers again, with LeDay stringing together 7 points, including a step-back triple and a turnaround mid-range jumper to open a 64-70 advantage. Vildoza answered with a wide-open three, and Nedovic took it to the rim to help cut it to 71-72, but in the final 69 seconds, Punter made a pair of free throws and Exum made 5 of 6 for Partizan to steal a big road win against its arch rival.

Game News

Partizan battles for 78-79 road win in Belgrade derby

 Dante Exum, Partizan: 'This is a big one for us' 

### Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade head coach Zeljko Obradovic

"We won, but we are very stupid. This is the way how we lost I don’t know how many games. And we watch how they score in the last second. Amazing. OK, the team fought, the team played good, we had advantage the whole game. And thanks to our people who came to the game to support us. An excellent atmosphere, I believe it was very good for the whole Europe to watch this big derby."

"Obviously, I am very happy we won, but I believe we came to the point we could win with a better point difference. Nedovic and Vildoza had good games, but the fact is we led the entire game and we played good, most of all smart, both on offense and defense. I felt we controlled the game. I am really sorry we could not defend a four-point difference; I hope we will take the lessons out of it. I am extremely pleased with our steals-to-turnover ratio. We had a big plus in that segment, but when you see it, it is unbelievable that this was the final score. But that's the beauty of basketball. Still, this win is good for our confidence, and every win against Zvezda is very important for us."

### Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade head coach Dusko Ivanovic

"A tough game. I think Partizan played good, but I don't think we played the way we prepared the game. We played without patience, we had many many turnovers, and against a team like Partizan, you must pay."

"A big difference in steals and turnovers on both sides is where the margin was made. And it starts with us not playing with patience. I told my players to sleep calmly, we will have many more fights against them. The players gave their all. The only thing that we were missing was patience. In the atmosphere, we are the big winners. The crowd was fantastic, wonderful."

### Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade forward Zach LeDay

"I just want to do whatever it takes to help my team win, whether it's giving my body, energy, effort, I will do whatever it takes for my team to win. I guess this shows up. Tonight we just played together. We just went through a tough stretch, we loss a lot of close games. But we stayed together as a unit. It is us vs. everyone. So we just keep trying to grow. This win is important for us as a group. The playoffs is great, but it is important for us as a group to keep moving forward and to know what we can do when we play together and we stay together as a unit."

### Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade guard Dante Exum

"We gave up the lead but for what it's worth, it is hard to come in here and take a win. Their fans are crazy. I think for us to stick it out and take the win is big, a big one going forward. We knew it was going to be a fight, we knew it would be ups and downs during the game. You can't hear anything in here, so the biggest thing was to stay together. So, whenever we had a chance it was picking a guy up, telling him, 'Let's go, we got this'. And, we came out. I think this is how it starts, we've got to win games. This is a big one for us and onto the next one."

Dante Exum, Partizan: 'This is a big one for us'

Head-to-head: Petrusev, Zvezda vs. Lessort, Partizan

One of many great matchups in Round 21 comes in the Belgrade derby between two of this season's best centers in the competition, [Filip Petrusev](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/filip-petrusev/011194/) of Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade and [Mathias Lessort](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mathias-lessort/003842/) of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade. 

Lessort, in his fourth EuroLeague campaign, has been having a fantastic season by all standards. He enters Round 21 leading the league in both rebounds (7.4) and offensive boards (3.4), while ranking second in average PIR (20.8). He also ranks sixth with 31:31 minutes played per game.

When these two teams clashed in their first-ever EuroLeague meeting in December, Lessort was the more dominant force. He had one of his league-leading six double-doubles, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and also had 3 assists.

But Petrusev played a big part in Zvezda's 73-76 win, scoring 10 points without missing a field goal, going 3-for-3 on twos and 1-for-1 on three-pointers, and also pulled down 4 rebounds. In a dramatic victory, Petrusev had an impressive +24 in the plus/minus column.

A week later, Petrusev started the run that has made him among the most productive player in all of the EuroLeague.

No player has accumulated a higher PIR over the last seven games than the 22-year old Zvezda big man. His PIR total of 163 in that span, for an average of 23.3, is head and shoulders above everyone else's. 

Since he got rolling, Petrusev has had four games in which he scored 20 or more points, three with 9 or more rebounds, and six with PIRs of 17 or higher. He has been averaging 19.6 points, second-best in the league over the last seven games, on an impressive 74.2% two-point shooting, along with 6.3 points, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steasl.

Lessort, on the other hand, never stopped being dominant. In that same span of games, Partizan's big man has ranked third with an average PIR of 18.6. He is scoring 12.3 points on 73.73% two-point accuracy, while pulling down 6.3 rebounds and contributing 1.4 assists.

Both Zvezda and Partizan will need their star centers to keep their performance levels on Friday night at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, when two great rivals collide in a game with high stakes.

Filip Petrusev and Mathias Lessort highlights since Round 14

 Belgrade's eternal rivals ready for a high-stake encore 

Everything is in place for another celebration of basketball in the Serbian capital as Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (10-10) gets ready to host Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (9-11) on Friday night. One of the biggest rivalries in the world had its premier in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague earlier this season, and now the two teams clash again, but this time, with the stakes even higher.

Belgrade's eternal rivals went against one another in the EuroLeague for the very first time in December, in what was one of the most hyped up regular-season games in recent basketball history.

That Round 12 game contest easily lived up to its billing, with all the emotions and atmosphere a fan could ask for, even before [Nemanja Nedovic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/nemanja-nedovic/000848/) knocked down a game-winning corner triple for Zvezda's [73-76](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/partizan-mozzart-bet-belgrade-crvena-zvezda-meridianbet-belgrade/E2022/103/) victory, silencing about 18,000 Partizan fans in a jam-packed Stark Arena and sparking big celebrations of Zvezda fans in the upper ring of the stands.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DO NOT CLOSE YOUR EYES, this is really happening! <a href="https://twitter.com/nedovic1624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nedovic1624</a> WINS it for <a href="https://twitter.com/kkcrvenazvezda?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kkcrvenazvezda</a>, what a SHOT 😱😱<br><br>And the fans go WILD! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSMagicMoment?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSMagicMoment</a> <a href="https://t.co/HZxzuk8ge0">pic.twitter.com/HZxzuk8ge0</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1600965713149464578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Now, the place that will be booming is the legendary Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, formerly known as Pionir Hall, one of world's most special and loudest basketball venues. The scenery will change from Partizan's black-and-white to Zvezda's red-and-white. And while their first game carried the charm of the historic, first-ever clash, this one carries important playoff implications.

A win for Zvezda would give it a winning record with almost two thirds of the regular season gone, the result of an early-season coaching change. Ever since Dusko Ivanovic took over the bench, Zvezda has been a different team, winning nine of 13 games and holding opponents at 75 or fewer points in nine contests during that span.

Adding another victory over Partizan to that run would also give Zvezda both a sweep and a two-game cushion against a team that is not only its greatest foe, but also one of its direct rivals in the playoff race.

However, with all that a win on Friday would mean for Zvezda, the stakes seem even higher for Partizan and its playoff hopes.

A rivalry renews for a unique chapter as the Belgrade derby arrives on the EuroLeague stage for a first occassion. Partizan aim to arrest a run of three defeats, while Zvezda are 4-0 under new head coach Duško Ivanović. Who can snatch the bragging-rights in Serbia?

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade vs Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade - Round 12 - Highlights

Head coach Zeljko Obradovic's men suffered a four-game losing streak to open the season and a five-game slide that dropped them to 4-9 in mid-December. Partizan's defense allows a league-high 84.4 points per game and its opponents make a league-high 58.4% of their two-point shots.

Partizan is also tied for the league-worst 2-8 record on the road. A win against its biggest rival, in front of their fans, would do wonders for the team's confidence, but also allow Partizan to keep its playoff destiny firmly in its own hands.

To do so, Partizan will need to keep in check [Luca Vildoza](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/luca-vildoza/007947/) and Nedovic, whether in one-on-one situations they explore so well, or on pick-and-rolls designed to feed [Filip Petrusev](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/filip-petrusev/011194/).

The hosts will look to boost their own confidence from long range, while using its aggressive perimeter defense to not allow the likes of [Kevin Punte](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/kevin-punter/009862/)r, [Dante Exum](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/dante-exum/011302/), [Danilo Andjusic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/danilo-andjusic/000956/) and [James Nunnally](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/james-nunnally/007400/) to get into their own rhythm, or feed [Mathias Lessort](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/mathias-lessort/003842/) inside, but also with the aim of getting a few easy fastbreak opportunities from that defensive effort.

For how it plays out on the floor, but also for the atmosphere and the meaning, we are set for 40 – or more – must-watch basketball minutes on Friday.

Belgrade's eternal rivals ready for high-stakes encore

 Deck, Musa, Llull made the difference against Barca 

Real Madrid pleased its fans with a 91-86 home win over FC Barcelona in the latest edition of *El Clasico*. Three players stood out and took turns to make sure *Los Blancos* cruised to the top of the standings in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

Barca led most of the way but each time it got an important lead, Gabriel Deck was there to rescue Real and bring them closer. When Barca led 9-20, Deck had 6 points in a 7-0 run that got Real within 16-20 after 10 minutes. Once the visitors regrouped and got a double-digit lead at 34-44, Deck was ready to step up again, scoring half of the points in an 8-0 run that got *Los Blancos* closer, 40-44. 

Deck already had 17 of his game-high 23 points when Barca led 52-61 with over 8 minutes remaining. If not for his relentless play until that point, the visitors would have been sitting pretty. 

Team captain Sergio Llull and Coach Chus Mateo praised Deck's work after the game. "Gabi is amazing. He is a quiet guy that doesn't speak too much off the floor. But on the floor, you saw his character. He never puts his arms down, and we really need him," Llull said. 

 "Gabi Deck... if someone represents this big heart, probably it's him," Coach Mateo added. 

Despite all that Deck had done, Real clearly needed a second scorer to return to the game and that's when Llull took matters into his own hands.  

Gabriel Deck, Dzanan Musa and Gabriel Deck combined for 60 points against FC Barcelona to lead Real Madrid to a 91-86 overtime home victory.

Deck, Musa, Llull made the difference against Barca

Llull buried a three-pointer in transition and when he did, longtime Real fans could feel what was coming. Llull went on to hit a stop-and-pop jumper from the foul line, a fastbreak layup, a free throws and an electric driving basket. By the time he buried another shot from downtown, Real had taken the lead, 69-67. He had been scoreless until then, and scored 13 points in a little bit over 5 minutes. 

"We played against a really tough team, but I think in the end, we recovered our soul, our character," Llull said after the game. "You can win or lose games, but cannot ever lose your character, your DNA as a team. And I think that in the last quarter and in overtime, we showed that character to win."

Llull committed a turnover with 2.2 seconds left which denied Real the chance to win the game at the end of regulation. Real needed a new x-factor and Dzanan Musa delivered throughout the entire extra period. 

Musa thrilled the crowd with a driving layup, a pair of free throws and an off-balance, one-handed jumper that forced Barca to call timeout at 81-76. Once Real got another defensive stop, Musa buried a three-pointer that seemed to seal the outcome. Barca managed to get within 87-84 but Llull was ice cold from the foul line and drained 4 attempts in the final 11.9 seconds. 

Musa had 9 of his 18 points in overtime. Llull scored all of his 19 points in the final 13 minutes of the game. 

 "You can never discount Real Madrid. We have a great heart, and we fight until the end. And we showed that tonight," Musa said after the game. "This is a big game for us, a big game for the standings and especially, it is nice to win in *El Clásico*. It is unbelievable."

Deck, Llull, Musa made the difference against Barca

Real Madrid v FC Barcelona (2023-01-26T19:45:00.000Z)

On Thursday night, AS Monaco guard Mike James pulled the strings as his team beat EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 101-88 at Salle Gaston Medecin. James finished with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, which is his first double-double of the season and the 10th in his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career.

 

After starring with his shooting early on, it was his playmaking that did the damage in the latter stages. In the first quarter, James went on an 8-0 run by himself to put Monaco in the driving seat, 10-3, just over three minutes into the contest. By the end of the opening 10 minutes, the 32-year-old already had 10 points and 2 assists to his name.

 

While his second quarter was a little more understated, adding 3 more points and 2 extra assists to his tally, he helped Monaco stave off a Milan comeback attempt after the interval. During the third quarter, James increased his number of points to 18 by scoring a couple of free throws and draining a deep, off-balanced three-pointer, but he also dished 4 assists – taking his total to a season-high 8 – to ensure that his teammates remained involved on offense.

The best plays of AS Monaco guard Mike James during his 18-point, 10-assist double-double performance against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.

Mike James's best plays vs. Milan

James was able to take more of a backseat role in the fourth, but he got his double-double after first helping Alpha Diallo score a dunk and then finding Jordan Loyd for a three-pointer. Speaking afterward, James recognized the importance of Monaco's players all sticking together:

 

"We needed a win, so we tried to play together, play hard, fix some things from the last game. I still think we didn’t play that well on defense, but I think we shared the ball and we won. We haven’t been playing that well lately in terms of wins and losses, so we're just trying to get back on the right foot and try to start a streak of our own."

 

Monaco was on a two-game losing streak coming into Thursday's game, but James appeared to tweak his approach following successive defeats. After scoring 26 points and 23 points against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, respectively, James seemed to place an emphasis on sharing the rock after his 10-point first quarter. In the end, that decision – in addition to scoring some timely buckets in the second and third quarters – helped his team come away with a much-needed win.

Mike James ran the show as Monaco downed Milan

AS Monaco v EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (2023-01-26T20:00:00.000Z)

Panathinaikos Athens managed to put Zalgiris Kaunas’s four-game winning streak to an end thanks to an 89-65 victory at OAKA on Thursday night. Despite the big difference the scoreboard displayed in the end, the game was everything but controlled by the Greens in the first 20 minutes.

But the home team changed everything after the break and signed off on a 37-16 third-quarter score that made everyone at the arena rub their eyes. 

Including visiting head coach Kazys Maksvytis: "It was a very strange game. I never lived something like this in my career," he admitted in the press conference. "Even in kids' basketball, where I started my coaching career, I never saw numbers like these."

He was not the only one that found the game difficult to explain. Panathinaikos center Georgios Papagiannis was still thinking about it right after the final whistle: "Honestly, I don’t know \[what happened in the second half\]," he said. "\[The win\] was crazy."

His coach Dejan Radonjic also stressed how uncommon the game had been. "Maybe we can think of how strange it was how we played the first half and how we changed things in the second," he shared with the journalists in the press conference room. "But I’m so happy because of these 20 minutes; the team spirit, the fight, the energy, the body language was really good."

Panathinaikos won thanks to an unbelievable second half

Panathinaikos Athens v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-01-26T19:00:00.000Z)

Valencia Basket showed in its 88-94 victory over ALBA Berlin just how important free throw shooting is. Valencia converted 22 of 27 free throws for the game (81.5%), including making all 11 free throws in the final 2:03 minutes to get the win.

The Spanish side entered the game as the second-best free-throw shooting team in the EuroLeague at 82.6%. But going into the crunch time, Alex Mumbru had to be wondering about his team’s fortitude from the charity stripe, having made just 11 of its first 16 foul shots in the game (68.8%).

But with the game tied 81-81 with 2:03 minutes left, Kyle Alexander made 2 free throws. Chris Jones followed with 2 and added a third on an ALBA technical foul, and Jonah Radebaugh buried 2 as well as Valencia was working hard defensively to get stops in the high-scoring game.

Xabi Lopez-Arostegui re-established a 4-point lead with 2 free throws with 16 seconds left and Jared Harper iced the game with his foul shots with 7.9 seconds to go.

Harper had made just 1-of-4 free throws until that point, but he made sure he didn’t let his team down.

"We got stops and we made our free throws, and that was the key to the game. We believe in each other no matter who has the ball. At the end of the game we believed in our free throws, we work every day on it in practice. And it paid off today," said Jones, who ended up making 7 of 7 free throws to lead the way.

Valencia kept calm to finish game from the line

ALBA Berlin v Valencia Basket (2023-01-26T19:00:00.000Z)