Red and white night in Belgrade, Zvezda take the lead
Crvena zvezda Telekom grabbed a 1:0 lead in the ABA League Finals, by exploiting the exhaustion of short-benched Mega Leks in the final quarter of the first game and winning comfortably in the end.
Crvena zvezda Telekom grabbed a 1:0 lead in the ABA League Finals, by exploiting the exhaustion of short-benched Mega Leks in the final quarter of the first game and winning comfortably in the end.
ABA League Finals, Round 1, Thursday, 28.4.2016:
CRVENA ZVEZDA TELEKOM - Mega Leks 95:88 (27:25, 21:19, 20:25, 27:18)
Game recap: Crvena zvezda Telekom have made a first step towards their goal - winning the first trophy of the season, the ABA League trophy. Dejan Radonjić"s squad have fought a tough battle against their challengers, the youngest team of the league, Mega Leks. As many have predicted even before the game, the guest just did not manage to stick to the strainous tempo of the game due to no less than five of their injured players at the moment.
Key moments: Mega Leks did fight bravely for their desired first win in the final series, but they fell short due to the lack of energy, left in their fuel tanks for the last quarter, which they entered with a 70:68 lead thanks to the three pointer of Rade Zagorac a few seconds before the end of the third.
However, as the last quarter began, things went the other way and the score was tied for the last time at 72:72 in 32nd minute. In the forthcoming 2 minutes, Zvezda made an 11:0 run on the wings of Quincy Miller (5 points during this period) and Marko Simonović (two three pointers) and it turned out that this decided the outcome of the game, since the team from Sremska Mitrovica did not manage to recover from this blow until the end of the clash.
Man of the match: Maik Zirbes was the key for Crvena zvezda Telekom"s victory, since Mega Leks players just did not have an answer for his inside game. He finished his dominant performance with 17 points, 12 rebounds, an assist and a steal, which was enough for the valuation of 29, which is also the highest individual valuation of this game.
Can"t trick the stats: Zvezda"s dominance in the paint was decisive for the outcome of the game one of the ABA League finals, as the home side have outrebounded the guests 33:24 and the difference was evident especially in the offensive rebounding where the red and white prevailed with 10 rebounds over 1.
