By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
What a game Markus Howard just had in Belgrade, or to be precise, what a second half from Baskonia’s sharpshooter.
The US guard scored 17 points in the third quarter and led Baskonia with a total of 32 points to a big 90-91 win in the packed Stark Arena in Belgrade against Crvena Zvezda. Therefore, the Vitoria team improved to 12-10, while Crvena Zvezda fell to 9-13 after 22 rounds of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Howard had one of the best nights in his EuroLeague career with an incredible 7/10 from beyond the arc. He was accompanied by Chima Moneke, who contributed 13 points and 12 rebounds, as well as Vanja Marinković, hitting five three-pointers out of nine attempts, especially in crucial moments, finishing the game with 18 points.
“This is definitely the toughest place we’ve had to play at. We’ve got to give their fans and the organization great credit, there’s nothing but emotion here”, Howard said. “A lot of emotion throughout the game. We got better as a team during the game, we knew it was going to be tough. Defensively we picked up in the second half. I’ve got to give a shout to Chima for that rebound at the end of the game, that was a big play.”
Rebounding and Howard proved crucial in the end, as Baskonia secured a significant 15 offensive rebounds (Zvezda had a total of 23), and once again, they made 17 three-pointers, maintaining a fantastic 50 percent success rate, just like in the first encounter between these teams this season.
Zvezda was the better team in the first half, but then Howard took the scene and made a key difference in the favor of Dusko Ivanovic’s team.
“We had an inspired Howard”
“First of all, I want to thank the crowd. That was a really nice gesture. It’s been an emotional night for me. We had no intensity and didn’t play defense in the first half, Red Star scored too many easy points. We improved in the second half, played better defense and we had an inspired Markus Howard on offense,” coach Ivanovic said after the win against his former team.
For the Belgrade team, which played without injured Milos Teodosic, Nikola Topic, and Nemanja Nedovic, Yago dos Santos had a career-high 26 points, hitting some big shots in the end, but Baskonia survived. Rokas Giedraitis added 13 points, while the debutant Javonte Smart had 11.
“They killed us with offensive rebounds. Plus, Markus Howard played an incredible game. I’ve played with him before, back at the U17 and U18 levels; he has scoring ability in his hands… Tonight he really made some tough shots. I’m still learning, learning a lot. Learning plays, trying to understand my role… But it will be good,” Smart said after his first appearance in European basketball.
Adam Hanga scored 10 points, while Joel Bolomboy added nine with five rebounds and three blocks for the hosts, but it wasn’t enough for the hosts.
“The defense brought the victory to Baskonia, as well as offensive rebounds. In the first half, we had the advantage, but we struggled in the second half. We fought, but we couldn’t overcome the issues we had in defense and rebounding, which were definitely the keys to success when it comes to our opponent. They were getting second and third-chance opportunities to score,” Zvezda’s coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos said after the game.
Photo: euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague