By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda defeated Partizan Belgrade 82 – 76 on the road in Game 3 of the ABA League Finals to sweep the series and win the championship title for the seventh time in club history. This is the first sweep by Red Star over their archrival in the ABA Finals.
By claiming the ABA title, Zvezda gets a priority for receiving a wildcard for the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.
Nemanja Nedovic and Branko Lazic secured the win for Zvezda with 4-4 free throws in the last seconds and after Partizan tried to come back from down 55 – 65 in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 68 – 70 with 5:43 to play. Aleksa Avramovic hit a triple to make 75 – 78 and then Jaleen Smith went 1-2 from the line with 16 seconds remaining but that was the last the hosts scored.
Yago dos Santos was named MVP of the Playoffs after finishing with 12.3 points, 4.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds in the series along with 11.7 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in the postseason overall. He had 11 points and four assists in Game 3.
Luka Mitrovic had 12 points plus eight rebounds while Rokas Giedraitis dropped 12 points as well for Zvezda that led for the vast majority of the game and held a steady advantage after the mid of the third period.
Avramovic (17 points) and Danilo Andjusic (13 points) scored in double figures for Partizan. Their team was without James Nunnally after the fight he had with Zvezda’s Stefan Lazarevic, who was also out for the game.