2020-21Regular SeasonRound 26
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 87
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 67
February 26, 2021 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 BUESA ARENA

Baskonia, too much for Zvezda in fourth straight win

TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz extended its winning streak to four games as it rolled past struggling Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 87-67 at home on Friday. Youssoupha Fall led the way with 20 points in helping Baskonia pull to an even record at 13-13 and stay within touching distance of the playoff positions. Luca Vildoza and Rokas Giedraitis each added 14 points and Achille Polonara picked up 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks in the victory. Zvezda has now lost six games in a row and seven of its last eight road games to fall to 7-19 despite Jordan Loyd tallying 14 points and Corey Walden scoring 10 points.


After Polonara opened the game with the first 4 points, Loyd got Zvezda on the board. The hosts used their height advantage and fed Fall for 8 points in building a 14-3 lead. After Fall went to the bench, Zvezda was able to score more consistently as Loyd picked up 6 points to make it 21-16 after 10 minutes.

Tadas Sedekerskis and Tonye Jekiri started the second quarter with put-back dunks for Baskonia before Marko Jagodic-Kuridza got Zvezda on the board. After Jekiri added 4 more points, Giedraitis drained a triple and both Fall and Luca Vildoza converted three-point plays in a 19-2 run to go ahead 46-22. Loyd countered with 5 points but Zvezda went into the locker room down 48-27. Dejan Davidovac gave Zvezda a strong start to the second half with back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to 15 points, at 48-33. Giedraitis and Vildoza answered from deep to re-establish a 21-point gap. Fall hit a pair of baskets that pushed the margin to 61-37. Baskonia failed to score for 3 minutes and Ognjen Dobric converted a four-point play as the guests were within 63-48. But Pierria Henry ended the third quarter with a three-point play for a 66-48 advantage. Walden's three-point play started the final quarter and Ognjen Kuzmic trimmed the gap to 67-53. Zvezda refused to go away with Walden's next and-one making it 71-58 with under 7 minutes left. But Alec Peters drained a triple and Polonara threw down a breakaway dunk for a 76-58 advantage with under 6 minutes left. Vildoza added a triple as the lead swelled to 81-61 and left no doubt that Baskonia would grab the win.

Fall dominance

Youssoupha Fall was unstoppable for Baskonia. The big man scored a career-high 20 points, making 9 of 12 two-pointers and 2 of 4 free throws to go with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks for an index rating of 23. The only way to slow him down was fouls as he was held to less than 16 minutes on the floor due to four personal fouls.

Zvezda undermanned despite Walden return

Zvezda's task against Baskonia wasn't any easier as the Serbian side was still undermanned. Corey Walden did return after missing the last two games because of COVID-19. But Langston Hall, Landry Nnoko, Duop Reath and Quino Colom were all unavailable.

Telling numbers

Baskonia out-rebounded Zvezda 41-31 including 13 offensive rebounds, allowing for an 18-8 advantage in second-chance points. The hosts also committed just 7 turnovers and enjoyed a 14-6 margin in points off turnovers.

Next games

Baskonia will hope to extend its winning streak to five games when it hosts Olympiacos Piraeus on Wednesday, March 3. Zvezda aims to get back to its winning ways at home as it hosts FC Bayern Munich the previous night.

Luca Vildoza - TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz - EB20
Friday, February 26, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; PATERNICO, CARMELO; THEPENIER, HUGUES
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz21271821
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade16112119
End of Quarter1234
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz21486687
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade16274867
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 RAIESTE, SANDER 6:16 5 1/2 1/1   1   1           1   4
3 VILDOZA, LUCA 23:24 14 3/3 2/4 2/3   3 3 5 3       3 3 22
5 JEKIRI, TONYE 17:26 8 3/5   2/2 2 2 4 2 1   1   2 2 14
7 HENRY, PIERRIA 22:22 3 1/3   1/1 2 2 4 6 2 1     2 2 12
8 SEDEKERSKIS, TADAS 16:01 2 1/3 0/1   1 1 2               1
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 4:44     0/1   1   1           1   -1
19 FALL, YOUSSOUPHA 15:57 20 9/12   2/4 1 5 6     1 2   4 5 23
25 PETERS, ALEC 30:22 9 0/3 3/7   1 4 5 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 12
30 DRAGIC, ZORAN 7:45   0/4 0/2     1 1     2   2     -9
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 25:46 14 3/4 2/4 2/2 1 2 3 1 1       1 2 17
33 POLONARA, ACHILLE 28:48 12 6/7 0/2   2 6 8 5 1 2 2   2 1 22
47 KURUCS, ARTURS 1:09     0/1                       -1
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 87 27/46 8/23 9/12 13 28 41 24 9 7 6 3 17 16 119
        58.7% 34.8% 75%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO
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
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 WALDEN, COREY 15:58 10 4/4 0/3 2/3   1 1 1 1 1     1 7 14
3 LOYD, JORDAN 25:44 14 2/6 2/6 4/6 1 4 5 3   2   1 3 4 10
4 USKOKOVIC, ALEKSA 20:58 8 4/8 0/2   1 1 2 3 1 3   1 1 1 4
6 VUJICIC, MILUTIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 27:16 8 1/1 2/3     1 1 1 1 1 1   2 1 9
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 18:56   0/2 0/1   2 1 3 1       1 1   -1
12 RADANOV, ALEKSA 10:08   0/2 0/1     2 2     1     2   -4
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN 17:41 9 1/2 2/6 1/1   2 2 1 1 1     2 1 6
19 SIMONOVIC, MARKO 22:10 3 0/2 1/1   1 1 2 1       1   1 4
21 JAGODIC-KURIDZA, MARKO 19:40 6 1/5 1/1 1/2 1 2 3     2   1 1 1 1
22 SIMANIC, BORISA 1:09                              
32 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 20:20 9 4/5   1/2 3 4 7       2 1 3 1 13
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 67 17/37 8/24 9/14 10 21 31 11 4 11 3 6 16 17 59
        45.9% 33.3% 64.3%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN

Head Coaches

IVANOVIC, DUSKO
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"It was important for us against a team that played really good in the second and third quarters. They demonstrated that they have talent. We maybe were a little relaxed, but I think we controlled the game well. In the second half, we didn't have aggressiveness. Maybe the last five minutes of the last quarter, but not in the third quarter. For us, every game until the very end will be very important."
RADONJIC, DEJAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
“Congratulations to Baskonia for the win. They played a pretty good game, much better than us. They had a big advantage in the first half and they controlled the game. For us, most important is to have more players on the court for the next game.” Ivanovic: “We started the game very concentrated. We were really intense in the first half. In the third quarter we tried to be more aggressive but it didn’t work. But in the end, we got the win by working hard.”

Players

FALL, YOUSSOUPHA
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"This is just the beginning. I’m trying to work hard every day. This is just the result. It was a good team win, everything is okay. Every game matters now. Every game is important now. We want to reach the playoffs and we have to win every game to do that."
VILDOZA, LUCA
TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"It was a great game. We played our rhythm. We played really great defense. But still, we gotta keep going. We are still further down in the standings. We want to play in the playoffs so we gotta keep working."