By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It’s not usual for Crvena Zvezda to lose in Belgrade, but in theory, Maccabi was the host team, and in the end, the home side prevailed.
The final score was 85-73 with John DiBartolomeo scoring 15 points, Tamir Blatt adding 14 points and Jaylen Hoard contributing 13.
“We really needed this”, said Blatt after the game as Maccabi was trying to save its pride in a very hard season away from Tel Aviv because of the situation in Israel.
Coach Oded Kattash added: “We headed into the game with the right energy and the right attitude, having won the battle of the boards and most of the 50-50 balls”.
On the other side, Milos Teodosic scored 15 points and Filip Petrusev added 14 points.
After this result, Zvezda dropped to 13-10 while Maccabi remains second to last with a 6-17 record.
Maccabi in control
After a balanced first quarter in which Maccabi led by one (21-20), the Israelis created distance in the second.
The Israelis were up by 12 (44-32) at halftime, keeping Zvezda to just 12 points in the quarter and extending their advantage to 15 points (51-36) early in the third period.
Entering the last quarter, Zvezda trimmed the lead to eight (67-59), only for Maccabi to extend again to 12 (73-61).
There was no returning for the Serbs after that, as Maccabi stayed in control until the final buzzer.
Photo credit: EuroLeague