Partizan blows past Turk Telekom

Partizan mts Belgrade led from start to finish in downing visiting Turk Telekom Ankara 85-59 on Wednesday night at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in the Serbian capital. Partizan improved to 2-0 in Group A, while Turk Telekom fell to 1-1. Partizan took control from the get-go and pulled away for good with an 11-0 second-quarter run. The hosts blew the game wide open in the third quarter when a 13-2 spurt led to a 20-point lead en route to the victory. Kevin Punter paced Partizan with 19 points in 18 minutes. Alen Smailagic scored 13, Yam Madar had 12 points and Aleksa Avramovic collected 10 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds. JaJuan Johnson led Turk Telekom with 14 points and Aaron Harrison scored 13 in a losing effort.

Smailagic and Zach LeDay opened the game with back-to-back triples. Berk Demir hit from long range and Harrison made a floater for the visitors, but a dunk from Balsa Koprivica followed by Punter's triple and a jumper from Madar made it 16-7. Johnson answered with 5 points, including a three-point play, but Punter scored 5 points for the hosts, too, making it 21-12 after 10 minutes.

The hosts extended the margin to double digits behind Koprivica and Smailagic, but Samet Geyik had a pair of baskets to spark Turk Telekom's run during which Dorukhan Engindeniz and Harrison each knocked down a triple to cut it to 30-28. Smailagic answered with a dunk that sparked an 11-0 run with Aleksa Avramovic in the main role on both offense and defense. But threes from Engindeniz and Demir got Turk Telekom within 41-34 at the half.

Madar opened the third quarter with a three-pointer and a second-chance jumper. Harrison hit a triple for Turk Telekom, ending the visitors' 3-minute drought without a basket, but Avramovic hit a three to spark a 13-2 run, capped by a three-pointer from Smailagic to open a 59-39 lead. Turk Telekom was without a single field goal for the final 4 minutes of the quarter, all while Dallas Moore had a triple and Punter scored a fastbreak layup to open a 64-41 lead at the end of the third.

Harrison hit a three to open the final quarter before Punter and Johnson exchanged three-point plays. But Moore's three-pointer helped extend the difference to 74-49 as things started to slow down offensively, while Partizan was not letting down defensively as it cruised to a 26-point victory.

Partizan jumps out of the gates

Partizan came out with tremendous energy in its home opener, especially on the defensive end. Allowing 59 points on the night speaks for itself, but Partizan built its advantage in the opening quarters of each half. The team scored the first 6 points of the game, and led 16-7 after a little over 6 minutes. In the second half, Partizan scored the first 5 points and opened it with an 18-5 run that broke the game open. Moreover, the hosts held Turk Telekom to 12 points in the first quarter and just 7 in the third stanza and outscored the visitors 44-19 over those two quarters.

Turnovers do the job

In addition to holding the visitors below 50% shooting on two-pointers, and 7-for-23 (30.4%) from long range, Partizan also forced 20 turnovers in the game. On the other hand, Zeljko Obradovic’s men took great care of the ball and committed just 11 turnovers of their own. What was equally important, Partizan cashed in on its defensive effort by scoring 31 points off turnovers. And when all these numbers are put together, the outcome at the end is a 26-point victory.

Avramovic supplies plenty of energy

There was plenty of energy going all around Aleksander Nikolic Hall on Wednesday night, but one player might have had just a bit more than anyone else. Aleksa Avramovic was playing aggressive basketball on both ends of the floor, diving on the floor on multiple occasions in the game, which just got the crowd each time a notch more energetic. The entire Partizan squad brought high levels of energy and desire into the game, but Avramovic was just a bit above the rest. In addition, Avramovic was also highly efficient on the offensive end. He only 1 missed shot the entire night for 10 points, and also contributed on the glass with 4 rebounds, while creating for his teammates with a team-high 4 assists.