2021-22Regular SeasonRound 14
December 09, 2021 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 ALEKSANDAR NIKOLIC HALL

Kalinic fuels Zvezda over Olympiacos

Nikola Kalinic scored a career-high 25 points and dished 6 assists to lead Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade to a hard-fought 81-76 victory over Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday night at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in the Serbian capital. The Zvezda star scored 8 in the fourth quarter alone, during which the score was tied five times before Kalinic scored and assisted in a game-breaking 9-1 run that made it 78-70 with 1 minute to go. Luka Mitrovic contributed 12 points and 8 rebounds in the winning effort, Dejan Davidovac added 11 points and Nikola Ivanovic and Nate Wolters scored 10 each. The win was Zvezda’s second in a row to take its record to 6-8. Tyler Dorsey paced the Reds with 18 points and Kostas Sloukas and Sasha Vezenkov each scored 12 in the defeat, which snapped Olympiacos’s three-game winning streak and made it 9-5 on the season.

After each team committed a turnover on its opening possession and scored just 1 basket in the first 2 minutes, the hosts heated up as Davidovac scored 5 points in a 7-0 run for a 9-2 lead. Kostas Papanikolaou drilled a three to revive the Reds, but Zvezda seemed to have an answer for every Olympiacos shot. After Vezenkov and Kalinic traded threes, it was 17-10. A three by Dorsey and second-chance score for Vezenkov drew the visitors within 2. Free throws by Ivanovic made it 19-15 after 10 minutes.

Hassan Martin scored Olympiacos’s first 2 baskets of the second quarter to close the gap again. A three by Ivanovic gave the hosts some breathing room at 26-21. Mitrovic contributed a block and a hook shot to keep the Reds at bay. Shaquielle McKissic responded with a three-pointer to get Olympiacos within 28-26 midway through the second quarter. Kalinic stepped up for the hosts with a three-pointer and a layup – both courtesy of Stefan Markovic assists – to stretch the margin back to 6. Olympiacos rallied through a three by Giannoulis Larentzakis to take its first lead, 34-35, on Vezenkov's free throws. Kalinic answered, but a triple by Sloukas made it 36-38 at the break.

Vezenkov started the second half with a three from the corner, but Zvezda responded through a Davidovac three. The same player connected from deep a minute later – after a three-point play from Branko Lazic – to put the hosts back ahead, 45-43. The lead went back and forth as Dorsey drilled a triple and Kalinic scored in the paint. It was 49-48 midway through the quarter. Dorsey’s third three of the game and a basket by Martin in the paint gave Olympiacos a 4-point edge. After a Zvezda timeout, the hosts heated up with Ivanovic and Kalninic combining for the remaining 7 points of the third quarter. Ivanovic tied it from the line and Kalinic sank 3 free throws with 6 seconds left in the quarter to make it 56-53. Sloukas made a three just after the third-quarter buzzer that did not count.

A basket-plus-foul by Thomas Walkup – his first points of the game – put Olympiacos back on top, 56-58, early in the fourth quarter. The teams settled into a tight duel. Twice Georgios Printezis broke a tie and each time Mitrovic answered with free throws to tie it again. After a monster slam by McKissic, A three by Wolters and a long jumper by Kalinic made it 69-66 and had the Zvezda fans singing. Sloukas, out of a timeout, drilled a game-tying triple but Wolters struck right back with a runner and Kalinic fed Mitrovic for a back-door layup to make it 73-69 with 3 minutes left. After Kalinic put back his own miss and then Wolters found Branko Lazic in the corner for a triple on the one-minute mark, the outcome was decided.

Career-highs again for Kalinic

Nikola Kalinic had one of the finest games of his EuroLeague career with a career-high 25 points. He also tied a career-best with a performance index rating of 27. It came just a month after he set career-highs with 22 points and a PIR of 27 in a home win over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Against Olympiacos, he made 8 of 13 two-pointers and 2 of 4 threes. He was perfect in 3 trips to the foul line – all at the end of the third quarter. Kalinic added 4 rebounds and 6 assists. He is now averaging 12.2 points and 3.8 rebounds – both career-highs – this season. 

Another historic feat for Printezis 

Georgios Printezis scored a pair of clutch fourth-quarter baskets for Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade and not only did each of them give his team the lead, but they put him in the record book. The first basket tied his longtime teammate Vassilis Spanoulis for the most field goals made in competition history with 1,403. His next bucket gave Printezis the record. Naturally, both were his trademarked one-handed floaters. 

The record for most baskets made in competition history is just the latest feat for the two-time champ. Printezis, who has played all but two of his 19 EuroLeague seasons with his boyhood club, was already the all-time leader in two-point baskets and now has 1,177. He is ranked fourth in points scored (3,529) and games played (354) and sixth in rebounds (1,434), too. 

Vets of the bench come up big for Zvezda

Luka Mitrovic and Nikola Ivanovic had pivotal roles in Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade’s home win over Olympiacos Piraeus on Thursday. Mitrovic was on call for the entirety of the fourth quarter during which he scored 6 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. He twice tied the score from the foul line and then put Zvezda up 73-69 with 3 minutes to play. Ivanovic helped Zvezda most in the third quarter when it looked like the Reds might pull away. After Hassan Martin put Olympiacos up 49-53, Ivanovic conjured up 2 free throws and 2 assists in a 7-0 run that gave the hosts the lead. Mitrovic finished the game with 12 points and 8 rebounds and Ivanovic had 10 points – on 7-of-9 shooting from the free-throw line – to help Zvezda take the win.

Nikola Kalinic - Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade - EB21
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; MOGULKOC, EMIN; THEPENIER, HUGUES
Attendance: 4336
By Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade19172025
Olympiacos Piraeus15231523
End of Quarter1234
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade19365681
Olympiacos Piraeus15385376
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 WOLTERS, NATE 23:48 10 2/3 1/5 3/4   1 1 4 1       4 2 8
7 DAVIDOVAC, DEJAN 26:44 11 1/1 3/5     3 3 1 1       3   11
9 MITROVIC, LUKA 21:25 12 4/5   4/4 1 7 8 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 19
10 LAZIC, BRANKO 20:58 6 1/1 1/4 1/1 1   1     1     2 3 4
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 32:54 25 8/13 2/4 3/3 1 3 4 6   3     1 3 27
13 DOBRIC, OGNJEN 11:14   0/2 0/1     1 1     1   1 2   -6
14 HOLLINS, AUSTIN 8:43 3   1/1                       3
19 SIMONOVIC, MARKO 4:51                         1   -1
20 IVANOVIC, NIKOLA 15:37 10 0/4 1/2 7/9   1 1 4           5 13
27 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 15:11           2 2 5 1 1     2   5
32 KUZMIC, OGNJEN 18:35 4 2/2     1 4 5 2 1 1 1   1 1 12
33 ZIRBES, MAIK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           1   1     3         -2
Totals 200:00 81 18/31 9/22 18/21 5 22 27 23 5 12 2 2 18 16 93
        58.1% 40.9% 85.7%
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
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WALKUP, THOMAS 24:31 3 1/1 0/1 1/1   2 2 2 1 2     2 4 7
1 ACY, QUINCY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2 DORSEY, TYLER 24:13 18 3/4 4/7     2 2 1 2 2     2 2 17
5 LARENTZAKIS, GIANNOULIS 8:37 3   1/3     1 1 1   2     3 1 -1
10 FALL, MOUSTAPHA 15:10 3 1/3   1/2   1 1           3 2  
11 SLOUKAS, KOSTAS 23:52 12 2/4 2/4 2/2   1 1 4   1       3 15
12 MARTIN, HASSAN 14:18 8 4/6     2 4 6     3 2 2 3 2 8
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 26:12 12 2/4 2/4 2/2 1 2 3 2           1 14
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 13:48 4 2/4       1 1             1 4
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 20:55 3   1/3     3 3 2 1 3     1   3
17 JEAN-CHARLES, LIVIO 10:32 2 1/2       3 3 2         1   5
77 MCKISSIC, SHAQUIELLE 17:52 8 2/3 1/2 1/4 2   2 2         2 2 7
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 76 18/31 11/24 7/11 6 21 27 16 4 13 2 2 17 18 81
        58.1% 45.8% 63.6%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

Head Coaches

RADONJIC, DEJAN
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
“Congratulations to my players for the win and also for a good game. It was a tough game. We played the game with a lot of energy. Like I said before the game, it was very important to play with focus all the time end in the last several minutes we played defensively good, but smart on offense and that was very important.”
BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Olympiacos Piraeus
“It was a game that was decided by the details, especially in the fourth quarter. We lost a little bit our concentration on defense and we allowed some open threes. Red star played excellent, but of course, we had our opportunity to win this game."

Players

KALINIC, NIKOLA
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
"They are for sure one of the favorites to win the Euroleague is here. They have an amazing team, a lot of experience, athleticism. Great second half, especially for us. Like I said at halftime, we needed more energy, more speed, more motivation, toughness also. We protected our basket, started rebounding better and after that, everything came. You see how we play, we help each other. Everything I did today is built on the back of everybody on the team. We are all building together and it's great to be a part of this team.”
MITROVIC, LUKA
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
“We are very happy because we won this game against a great team, one of the best in the EuroLeague this season. What can I say? Very tough, very physical match, especially in the second half when they started switching out of everything and they’re maybe the best team in Europe at that. We had problems and in the last games when teams are switching against us and we can be happy with how we dealt with that in the second half. Every victory in the EuroLeague is important. There are no unimportant games here."
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