Despite missing three key players, the Serbian team romped to an emphatic victory over its more heralded Greek rival
Shorthanded Crvena Zvezda blows away Olympiacos, 87-73
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade cruised to an impressive 87-73 home win over Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 15 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, improving to 8-7 while the former three-time champions of Europe’s premier club competition dropped to 9-6.
A smooth team effort saw five home players finish in double figures, paced by Nemanja Nedovic who bounced back superbly from a sore knee to post a team-high 18 points.
Nikola Kalinic chipped in with 16, while Dejan Davidovac, Luka Mitrovic and Codi Miller-McIntyre added 12 each, the latter also dishing out 9 assists in a fine all-round performance.
At the other end, Sasha Vezenkov netted a game-high 19 points for Olympiacos and Nikola Milutinov scored 11, but the duo lacked support from the rest of the team as the visitors made a mere 6 of 23 shots from downtown.
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It was a game of runs in the first quarter as Zvezda scored 9 unanswered points to take an 11-6 lead, only for Olympiacos to hit back with their own 0-9 run. Nedovic beat the buzzer with a baseline three to give the hosts a 19-17 lead at the end of the first, setting the tone for a tight battle in the second.
Mitrovic came up big in the paint at both ends for Zvezda in the first half as the hosts forced a barrage of tough shots from Olympiacos, which struggled from downtown all night. The home team went on to take a 29-23 lead midway through the second quarter but the visitors managed to slash the deficit to 39-38 by halftime, having won the battle of the boards 20-12 in the opening 20 minutes.
Driven by Ognjen Dobric, Zvezda went on an 11-0 run early in the third quarter, making light of the absences of Filip Petrusev, Joel Bolomboy and Milos Teodosic, who cheered their teammates from courtside. Then Kalinic caught fire in the closing stages and Zvezda clinched the third period 28-15 to romp ahead 67-53 ahead of the final 10 minutes.
The hosts were able to keep their foot on the gas in the fourth as their opening 12 points came from the unlikely source of Davidovac, who took advantage of poor defending from Olympiacos which looked devoid of energy and bereft of ideas. Kalinic and Nedovic put the icing on the cake for the home team with long-range efforts, sparking wild celebrations among the home fans in the Belgrade Arena.
Ultimately, Olympiacos was undone by the absence of its own big men Moustapha Fall and Moses Wright, leaving Milutinov with too much work to do against rivals who kept swarming the Greek team’s Serbian center.