Kalinic goes off for career-high as Crvena Zvezda hold off ASVEL / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Zuma Press - Scanpix Credit Zuma Press - Scanpix

Nikola Kalinic went off for the best game of his career as Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade secured the second victory in a row.

Player of the Game EFF 27 Nikola Kalinic Points 22 Accuracy 7-12 Rebounds 4 Assists 3

The Serbian powerhouse 73-67 (18-9, 15-23, 17-13, 23-22) beat LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (6-3) in Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. With this victory, Crvena Zvezda snapped ASVEL’s three games winning streak.

The hosts made a decisive run in the fourth quarter. Nikola Ivanovic and Austin Hollins made two jumpers, Marko Simonovic added a 3-pointer, while Crvena Zvezda went on a 13-3 run and increased their lead to 15 points (63-48).

ASVEL managed to cut the deficit to single-digit (62-67) thanks to Ellie Okobo and Youssoupha Fall's points.

Nate Wolters made a bucket, Branko Lazic converted only one free throw, but with 14 seconds left to play, Crvena Zvezda were leading 70-64. However, Elie Okobo sank a 3-pointer and cut the visitors deficit to three points with 10 seconds left to play.

Despite that, Kalinic drew a foul, made both free throws, and secured the second victory in a row for Crvena Zvezda.

Kalinic finished the game with 22 points (5/8 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 6/8 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 8 drawn fouls, 2 turnovers, and 27 PIR.

27 PIR is the new career-high for the Serbian forward. He also repeated his personal 22 points performance after doing so back in 2019.

"Amazing job by the guys this night," Kalinic said after the game. "After a good start, we probably got carried away thinking it was going to be an easy game. But they also showed that they didn't accidentally get six wins. Congratulations to them also. We took the win and are ready for the derby Partizan this weekend."

Chris Jones was ASVEL’s leader as he accumulated 14 points (5/6 2PT, 4/4 FT), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 5 drawn fouls, and 17 PIR.

"We know Red Star is a tough team to play, especially at home, with their crowd," T.J. Parker noted. "We prepared them and told them about their physical impact and we didn't match that. I think it was the number one thing to do."

"They are the number one team, defensively, in the EuroLeague. So congrats to them, good game," concluded ASVEL's head coach.

Crvena Zvezda: Nikola Kalinic 22 (5/8 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 27 PIR), Nikola Ivanovic 14 (3/5 3PT), Ognjen Dobric 8.

ASVEL: Elie Okobo 16 (3/7 2PT, 2/9 3PT), Chris Jones 14 (5/6 2PT), Youssoupha Fall 11 (5/11 2PT, 10 REB.).

Kalinic's performance

Highlights

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