Joventut Badalona vs. UNICS Kazan - Game - Welcome to 7DAYS EuroCup

2020-21Regular SeasonRound 10

December 15, 2020 CET: 20:45

Local time: 20:45 PALAU OLIMPIC DE BADALONA

Dimitrijevic leads Joventut past UNICS

In a thriller that went down to the wire, Joventut Badalona took a decisive step towards winning Group A by edging UNICS Kazan 84-77 at home on Tuesday. Joventut improved to 7-2 in Group A while UNICS finished the regular season with a 6-4 record. Both teams had already qualified to the Top 16 before Round 10. Neno Dimitrijevic led the winners with 23 points. Xabi Lopez-Arostegui added 17 and 9 rebounds while Ferran Bassas scored 12 for Joventut. John Holland led UNICS with 20 points. Isaiah Canaan added 16, Jordan Morgan 12 and Okaro White 11. It all came down to the final 2 minutes, in which Nate Wolters brought UNICS within 79-77. Dimitrijevic downed a jumper and added free throws to make sure Joventut recorded an important win.

.@Neno_D7 and @SimonBirgander connect for a great pick-and-roll play!@Penya1930 #7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/hoShmf0mjP
— 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) December 15, 2020

Jordan Morgan got UNICS going with a jumper and a two-handed dunk. Conor Morgan answered for Joventut with a layup and Bassas added a three-pointer but Canaan and Jordan Morgan kept the guests in charge, 5-9. Ante Tomic took over with a three-point play but John Brown and Wolters each scored around the basket. Bassas insisted from downtown, getting help from Dimitrijevic and Lopez-Arostegui to give Joventut its first lead, 19-18, at the end of the first quarter. Dimitrijevic hit back-to-back jumpers and added a three-pointer to boost the hosts' lead to 26-20. Canaan and Holland hit triples but an unstoppable Dimitrijevic sank a jumper, fed Simon Birgander for a dunk and added a layup for a 35-26 Joventut lead. Holland kept pacing UNICS, and found help from Jordan Morgan and Wolters to bring UNICS within 42-38. Tomic hit a jump-hook but Holland got the guests even closer, 44-42, at halftime. Wolters downed a floater right after the break before Lopez-Arostegui followed a layup with a triple as Joventut stayed ahead, 49-44. White dunked and struck from downtown but Vladimir Brodziansky and Bassas kept the hosts ahead, 57-49. Lopez-Arostegui bettered Canaan's layup with a three-point play and Birgander added an alley-oop slam that made UNICS call timeout at 62-52. Jordan Theodore nailed a floater, Canaan followed a triple with a power layup, and Brown dunked to keep the guests within 64-61 after 30 minutes. Pau Ribas buried a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter and Albert Ventura added a layup that gave Joventut fresh air at 69-61. Brodziansky dunked off the baseline but Holland and Canaan kept UNICS as close as 73-67. Jordan Morgan hit a jump-hook and Holland added a triple but Tomic and Lopez-Arostegui restored a 79-75 Joventut edge. Wolters downed a floater but Dimitrijevic matched that with a short jumper and made free throws to seal the outcome, 83-77, with 33.4 seconds left.

When @JustJMo meets the ball at the rim, you know it's over ✋@unicsbasket #7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/rIP8OHGNQB
— 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) December 15, 2020

Pivotal performer

Dimitrijevic came off the bench and changed the game, allowing Joventut to dominate. He finished with 23 points on 6-of-7 two-point, 1-of-3 three-pointers and 8-of-8 free-throw shooting, adding a rebound, 2 assists, a steal and 6 fouls drawn for a PIR of 27.

Game-changing moment

Joventut led most of the way but Wolters drove and hit a floater to keep UNICS as close as 79-77. Joventut needed a go-to guy and Dimitrijevic showed great character, scoring the biggest basket of the game and proving ice cold from the foul line to secure the hosts' win.

Stellar stat

Free throw shooting tells a lot about this game. Joventut drew 28 fouls and was really accurate from the free throw line, hitting 28 of 30 attempts (93.3%). On the other hand, UNICS drew 24 fouls but only went to the line 17 times, hitting 13 shots (76.5%). Joventut attacked the basket with more aggressiveness and that made the difference.

Did you know?

Pau Ribas remains undefeated with Joventut in EuroCup action: 22 games, 22 wins. He was present in all 16 games that Joventut won in the 2007-08 season, lifting his first of two EuroCup titles. Ribas has a 6-0 record with Joventut this season. Ribas has a 48-16 record in the competition (75% wins).

Next game

UNICS won't return to 7DAYS EuroCup action until the start of the Top 16, scheduled for January 13, 2021. Joventut, however, has to play a postponed game from Round 7, at home against JL Bourg en Bresse on Wednesday, December 30.

Nenad Dimitrijevic - Joventut Badalona (photo Joventut - David Grau) - EC20

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Eurocupbasketball.com

Referees: FOUFIS, IOANNIS; AMBROSOV, MYKOLA; CLIVAZ, SEBASTIEN

Attendance: 0

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Joventut Badalona	19	25	20	20
UNICS Kazan	18	24	19	16

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Joventut Badalona	19	44	64	84
UNICS Kazan	18	42	61	77

Joventut Badalona

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
0	DIMITRIJEVIC, NENAD	20:51	23	6/7	1/3	8/8		1	1	2	1	1			2	6	27
4	RIBAS, PAU	26:47	3		1/3			1	1	3		3			1	6	7
6	LOPEZ-AROSTEGUI, XABI	29:32	17	2/4	1/4	10/11		9	9	2		2			2	7	25
9	MORGAN, CONOR	12:11	5	1/3	1/1		1		1			1		1	4		-2
10	BRODZIANSKY, VLADIMIR	27:49	8	2/5	0/1	4/4	3	4	7					1	3	3	10
13	PARRADO, ARNAU	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14	VENTURA, ALBERT	13:33	2	1/1	0/2		1	2	3						5		-2
20	BASSAS, FERRAN	22:36	12	0/2	4/8			2	2	2	1	3			3	1	6
32	ZAGARS, ARTURS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
35	BIRGANDER, SIMON	16:44	4	2/2			1	4	5			1			2		6
44	PARRA, JOEL	6:41	1			1/2									1	1
88	TOMIC, ANTE	23:16	9	2/6		5/5	1	3	4			4			2	4	7
	Team						1	1	2								2
	Totals	200:00	84	16/30	8/22	28/30	8	27	35	9	2	15	0	2	25	28	86
				53.3%	36.4%	93.3%

Head coach: DURAN, CARLES

Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating

UNICS Kazan

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
00	BROWN, JOHN	23:01	4	2/7	0/1		1	2	3	2	2	1			3	1	2
2	ANTIPOV, PAVEL	9:13			0/1			1	1	1	1					2	4
3	CANAAN, ISAIAH	25:17	16	3/5	2/5	4/5		2	2	1	1	2			5	5	12
7	WOLTERS, NATE	31:34	9	3/6	1/3		1	4	5	5	1	1			2	5	17
9	WHITE, OKARO	24:42	11	1/2	2/3	3/4	1	4	5	2	1	1	1		5	4	15
10	SERGEEV, PAVEL	6:37			0/1		1	1	2						2		-1
13	UZINSKII, DMITRII	12:47			0/2		2	1	3	1							2
19	MORGAN, JORDAN	23:04	12	5/11		2/2		3	3		1	1	1		4	2	8
23	HOLLAND, JOHN	21:22	20	1/4	5/9	3/4	2		2	3	1	2			3	2	15
25	THEODORE, JORDAN	20:40	5	2/3	0/1	1/2		1	1	2					2	3	6
42	KOLESNIKOV, EVGENY	1:43													3		-3
88	KAIMAKOGLOU, KOSTAS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Team						2	2	4			3					1
	Totals	200:00	77	17/38	10/26	13/17	10	21	31	17	8	11	2	0	29	24	78
				44.7%	38.5%	76.5%

Head coach: PRIFTIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

DURAN, CARLES

Joventut Badalona

"UNICS is a great team. Before the game, I said that UNICS is a hard, very good team, and I think that there were different phases in the game, but in the last minutes, we played better on offense and controlled the rebounds. I think that the team played very well in the first part of the group. In the second part, the team was so-so after COVID, but now, what is most important is to finish in the first or second position and try to finish well against Bourg. But I am very happy with my players because they are working incredibly."

"I am very happy because it is very difficult to win in the EuroCup against a great team. I am very happy because, before the start of the EuroCup, for me, our draw was terrible and now, it is possible to finish in the first or the second position. We started the game soft. I think UNICS started very well, but after the first 5 minutes, the team understood the situation and played better in the second half. I believe it was a very physical game. UNICS played at a high physical level, which we knew already, with a lot of American players. It was hard for us to understand the game in the beginning, especially their direct-screen defense, which made us feel very uncomfortable. Little by little, we got into the game. We controlled the rebounds, but it is true that Holland hurt us a lot. In the important moments, his three-point shots prevented us from breaking the game. We probably were nervous because of the importance of the game and that played against us in the fourth quarter, but in general, I am happy. We beat a great team, still have chances to finish first, which is great news. Let's see if we can seal that first place against Bourg."

PRIFTIS, DIMITRIS

UNICS Kazan

"It was a tough game, very competitive. Expect the first quarter, Joventut had the lead and controlled the tempo of the game. But in many moments, we had the chance. We had a very good number of assists and turnovers of the opponents. They had a lot of turnovers, less assists, although that pretty much balances the rest of the statistical categories. I think the difference is the number of free throws that we gave them, very easy points from the free-throw line. Congratulations to Joventut for the win. Now, for us, we don't have a next game in the EuroCup. We are expecting the last results. I think there are a couple of games left until we see the final ranking."

Players

DIMITRIJEVIC, NENAD

Joventut Badalona

"It was a tough battle between, like I said at halftime, two great teams fighting for the first spot. I am very happy with the team; we are going to the Top 16. It was about energy. When we had energy, we were playing better. We could run fastbreaks and score easy buckets, so I think it was a game of energy. We battled through it and got the win in the end."