By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Dealing with pain in his left leg and fatigue down the stretch, Nenad Dimitrijevic was the best player in Svyturio Arena on Sunday.
Switching to the international level with North Macedonia, the 26-year-old point guard of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan registered a new career-high with 43 points behind 16/30 from the field, including seven three-pointers in a losing effort against Lithuania. Limited to 29:23 in Klaipeda, he also put up six assists, four rebounds, and three steals.
“We lost,” pointed out Dimitrijevic, “It does not matter if I scored 43 points. So, it’s not the best game of my career, because we lost. At the end, that’s all that matters.”
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“A big cramp. I hope I will be OK in two days,” he described the setback. Falling to the floor during the fourth quarter, he immediately grabbed his calf and expressed pain by screaming, before being helped off the court by his teammates.
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In Round 11 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, he logged 11 points in just under 11 minutes for Olimpia Milan in a win opposite Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Unipol Forum on Thursday. After missing the reverse fixture opposite Lithuania in Skopje’s SRC Kale on Thursday, he suited up for the senior national team of his country on Sunday.
“Everybody wants to help their national team and play these games fresh and not rushing to play one game,” he replied to a question about conflicing schedules between Europe’s premier club continental competition and the international windows of FIBA.
Down to 1-3 in Group H of the EuroBasket Qualifiers, North Macedonia is on the verge of elimination, heading to the next international window in February.