Zeljko Obradovic apologizes to Filip Petrusev for Lessort's behavior / News - Basketnews.com

Mathias Lessort pushed, hit and shoved Filip Petrusev in the closing seconds of the derby between Partizan and Red Star. Zeljko Obradovic denounced his player's behaviour in the postgame presser.

Credit: ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic Credit ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic

The duel between Partizan Mozzart Bet and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade ended in the worst way possible.

Free throws this season

82%17,4Points made:17,4Accuracy:82,0%Place in standings:1Record max:27Record min:3Most made FTs:Dante ExumTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Partizan's center Mathias Lessort approached and hit Zvezda center Filip Petrusev, with whom he had an altercation during the game.

The situation escalated on the floor, as Danilo Andjusic approached Lessort to somehow flag him down, while Partizan's coach Zeljko Obradovic headed to Petrusev, as did other Zvezda players, like Ognjen Dobric and Facundo Campazzo.

After the game, Obradovic apologized to Petrusev during the presser.

"I said it in the locker room. Lessort is an incredible man, with incredible energy, who gives incredible things to this team," the 63-year-old tactician said.

"However, I also told him and I will repeat now that what he did in the end was absolutely unnecessary, and as a coach, I want to apologize to Filip Petrusev because Lessort pushed him away twice.

I don't know if anything had happened before that," Obradovic admitted.

"I'll look at the video, but that's no reason to react like that," he pointed out.

After his teammates managed to calm Lessort down, he left the court, and shortly after that he returned to the fans and celebrated with them a great victory in the big Serbian derby.

The Frenchman scored a game-high 27 points, but his feud with the Serbian big man almost overshadowed his accomplishments. Petrusev remained cool-headed, and did not retaliate.

On the other end, Dusko Ivanovic pointed out that he was satisfied with his team's performance.

"I think we played very well for most of the game. In the second half, we had problems with loose balls, there were also some mistakes in defense and problems in attack," started Ivanovic.

The Montenegrin coach was asked if this match was similar to the match against Panathinaikos in the EuroLeague, where Zvezda wasted a 17-point lead, but he disagreed.

"I apologize to you, but this has nothing to do with the match vs. Panathinaikos. Absolutely nothing," he pointed out.

When asked if his team is allowed to drop a 20-point lead and "fall without getting up", he first laughed, and then mentioned what's most important for his team and him after all.

"For me, the most important thing about this match, and I said that before it even started, is the feeling that I and my players will have after the match. It doesn't matter whether we won or lost."

Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.