2016-17Regular SeasonRound 20
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 72
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens 66
January 26, 2017 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 ALEKSANDAR NIKOLIC HALL
Ognjen Kuzmic celebrates - Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade - EB16

Simonovic, Kuzmic lead Zvezda to 7th straight win

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade registered its seventh consecutive win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by downing Panathinaikos Athens 72-66 in front of a sellout crowd at Aleksandar Nikolic Arena in the Serbian capital on Thursday. Zvezda improved to 12-8, while Panathinaikos dropped to 11-9. Marko Simonovic led the winners with 13 points, Luka Mitrovic added 11 and Ognjen Kuzmic posted 10 points and 14 rebounds for Zvezda. Kenny Gabriel paced Panathinaikos with a career-high 23 points, Mike James added 19 and K.C. Rivers 12 for the visitors. Zvezda started the game with a 16-0 run, during which Panathinaikos missed 9 shots and committed 4 turnovers in the opening six minutes.

Zvezda excelled on defense early, holding Panathinaikos scoreless for more than six minutes. Meanwhile, Kuzmic had 5 points while Stefan Jovic and Mitrovic each dunked in a 16-0 opening run. James and Rivers rescued Panathinaikos with back-to-back three-pointers and Gabriel added an alley-oop slam to make it 16-8. Gabriel struck twice from downtown, but free throws by Charles Jenkins and a dunk by Milko Bjelica gave Zvezda a 20-14 lead after 10 minutes. The hosts kept finding open shots, as Bjelica, Nate Wolters and Branko Lazic each hit one from beyond the arc to restore a double-digit lead, 31-21. It didn't last long, however, as James and Ioannis Bourousis combined for 8 points in a 2-10 run that brought Panathinaikos within 33-31. Mitrovic and Lazic stepped up for Zvezda and a wild driving layup by Jovic gave Zvezda a 39-33 lead right at the halftime buzzer. Rivers stepped up with back-to-back baskets after the break and Gabriel followed free throws with a triple to tie it at 42-42. A three-pointer by Gabriel soon gave Panathinaikos its first lead, 46-47. Thompson took over with a couple of baskets and got help from Jenkins and Jovic to give Zvezda fresh air at 55-50. James had 4 points in a 0-6 Panathinaikos run, but a floater by Wolters restored a 57-56 Zvezda edge after 30 minutes. Rivers struck from beyond the arc and Chris Singleton dunked for a 59-61 Panathinaikos edge. Kuzmic and Simonovic rescued Zvezda, giving the hosts a 66-63 edge with two minutes left. Panathinaikos kept struggling in crunch time and a put-back layup by Kuzmic caused the visitors to call timeout at 68-63. A layup by Simonovic sealed the outcome and the Zvezda fans celebrated yet another big home win against a EuroLeague powerhouse.

Thursday, January 26, 2017
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; ZAMOJSKI, JAKUB; SILVA, SERGIO
Attendance: 6387
By Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade20191815
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens14192310
End of Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade20395772
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens14335666
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WOLTERS, NATE 11:29 5 1/3 1/1   1 2 3 2         1   7
2 THOMPSON, DEON 8:50 6 2/3   2/4       1   1     1 2 4
9 MITROVIC, LUKA 22:10 11 5/6 0/2 1/2 2 1 3 3   1     2 2 12
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 19:57 5 1/1 1/1     2 2           4 1 4
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 SIMONOVIC, MARKO 30:47 13 3/6 1/7 4/4   2 2 1 1         4 12
20 RAKICEVIC, PETAR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 30:03 6 2/4 0/3 2/2   1 1 2 1 1   1 2 4 5
23 GUDURIC, MARKO 17:03 4 2/3 0/2     1 1 1 1       1   3
24 JOVIC, STEFAN 28:31 7 2/7 0/2 3/4 1 5 6 6 2 3     3 4 11
32 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 24:19 10 4/6   2/3 5 9 14 1 1 1     2 4 24
51 BJELICA, MILKO 6:51 5 1/1 1/2         1         1   4
Team             3 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 72 23/40 4/20 14/19 9 26 35 18 6 8 0 1 17 21 88
        57.5% 20% 73.7%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN
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
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 SINGLETON, CHRIS 28:21 5 1/3 1/4   2 3 5 1   1     2 3 6
2 NICHOLS, DEMETRIS 1:53   0/1       1 1                
3 RIVERS, KC 28:52 12 3/4 2/3     6 6 1 1 1     4   13
5 JAMES, MIKE 29:27 19 5/8 2/7 3/4   1 1 3 1 2     2 5 16
9 FOTSIS, ANTONIS 6:29           2 2               2
11 PAPPAS, NIKOS 14:32 2 1/1 0/2         3   2     1 1 1
12 FELDEINE, JAMES 10:43   0/2 0/1         1     1       -1
15 CHARALAMPOPOULOS, VASILIS 3:00   0/1               1     1   -3
21 GABRIEL, KENNY 27:15 23 3/5 5/7 2/2 3 1 4 1 1       4 2 23
25 GENTILE, ALESSANDRO 11:23   0/2     2 4 6 2   3     2 2 3
29 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 16:02 3 0/3 1/1     3 3 2 1       5 2 3
33 CALATHES, NICK 22:03 2 1/2 0/5 0/2   1 1 4   4       2 -3
Team           5 4 9               9
Totals 200:00 66 14/32 11/30 5/8 12 26 38 18 4 14 1 0 21 17 69
        43.8% 36.7% 62.5%
Head coach: PASCUAL, XAVI

Head Coaches

RADONJIC, DEJAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"I think playing in this format for all of us is something that is much harder than we thought because of the quality of the competition and because of the number of games and the way the games are scheduled. A great game requires great effort and it was not easy be at the level that is required to defeat Panathinaikos, which is an experienced team of players at the highest level. The start of the game was very good, we took a big difference, but we were of course waiting for the reaction of Panathinaikos. I felt that this was not something that could lead us to victory. They quickly came back and made good three-point shots to compete with us. We played good defense in the third and fourth quarters and managed to come up with some good decisions in the end to get the win. The atmosphere was fantastic, thank you to the fans who helped us to be good."
PASCUAL, XAVI
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens
"Down the end, Marko Simonovic attacked us in one-on-one situations and scored two very easy layups, but I think it was our first five, six minutes, in which he played very bad, and the end of the game, in which we didn't play defense, that cost us the game. For sure, it is important for Zvezda to play here, in this kind of atmosphere, but we have to know that it is always like this here. I thought we had enough experience to play in front of an atmosphere like this."

Players

KUZMIC, OGNJEN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"I feel great. We just have to keep playing like this. It was just another game for me, nothing special. We played good defense in the beginning, but didn't play great defense in the second and third quarter, but in the last quarter we did good again."
GABRIEL, KENNY
Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens
"We didn’t start the game well. It's ugly, but it doesn’t mean that the match is over. We returned to the game through the defense, but in the end didn’t score. In the last minutes we played bad on defense. I have confidence in myself, like my teammates. When I did not get a shot, my teammates told me to shoot. I had 5 consecutive three-pointers and every shot I took with confidence."
No results found.