Nikola Ivanović scores 29 points to lead Crvena zvezda Meridianbet toward road win vs. Cedevita Olimpija
Crvena zvezda Meridianbet have finished the regular season with a road win over Cedevita Olimpija in postponed game of Round 3.
(Photo: Cedevita Olimpija/Filip Barbalic/alesfevzer.com)
AdmiralBet ABA League Round 3, Monday, 24 April 2023:
Cedevita Olimpija - CRVENA ZVEZDA MERIDIANBET 70:84 (10:19, 20:24, 22:23, 18:18)
Story of the game: Crvena zvezda Meridianbet have finished the regular season with a road win over Cedevita Olimpija in postponed game of Round 3.
The final score won’t change anything when it comes to the final standings as both sides had already known their positions before this game. Crvena zvezda Meridianbet will enter the Playoffs from the 2nd position, while Cedevita Olimpija will start the final battles for the precious trophy as the 4th placed team in the regular season.
Yet, there is something that definitely marked this match and that is the performance of Nikola Ivanović. Crvena zvezda Meridianbet point guard used the fact that Luca Vildoza and Facundo Campazzo were ineligible for this match, so he stepped up for the red-and-whites and scored his AdmiralBet ABA League career-high 29 points.
Key moments: The final 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter turned out to be the key period in this game. Crvena zvezda Meridianbet gained a double-digit lead early in the game as they opened the match with a 17:0 run, however Cedevita Olimpija managed to bounce back and the hosts have reduced the gap to just 2 points - 30:28, with 3 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter.
But, then Crvena zvezda Meridianbet made the key 13:2 run to regain a double-digit lead at the halftime – 43:30. After that, the visiting side had no problems keeping a 10+ points distance in the rest of the match.
Man of the match: We have already written that Crvena zvezda Meridianbet point guard Nikola Ivanović has recored his AdmiralBet ABA League career-high 29 points, while we should also mention that Ivanović also scored his AdmiralBet ABA League career-high 37 index rating.
Ivanović definitely showed today that he will be an extremely important player for Crvena zvezda Meridianbet in the Playoffs.
Can’t trick the stats: We will say that one player made the difference today and that was Nikola Ivanović. If you take a look at the stats you will see that Ivanović, as the game top scorer, made 29 points, while the next top scorers in this game made 12 points each.
Stats
Players on court
| COL | Min | PtsP | RebsR | AssA | StS | FoulF | ValV | |
| 0 | Rebec M. | 21:37 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 | Jeremić M. | 20:34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 |
| 7 | Alibegović A. | 18:25 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 8 | Murić E. | 22:12 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 14 | Adams J. | 30:15 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| CZV | Min | PtsP | RebsR | AssA | StS | FoulF | ValV | |
| 0 | Holland J. | 13:14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Mitrović L. | 17:36 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 20 | Ivanović N. | 28:39 | 29 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 37 |
| 27 | Marković S. | 16:13 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 33 | Petrušev F. | 26:02 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 |
Last 5 actions
| Min | Score | Action |
| game finished | ||
| end of 4. quarter | ||
| 00:11 (Q4) | 7 ALIBEGOVIĆ A. rebound (defensive) | |
| 00:14 (Q4) | 0 HOLLAND J. missed 3 points (jump shot) | |
| 00:33 (Q4) | 9 MITROVIĆ L. rebound (defensive) | |
| 00:33 (Q4) | 7 ALIBEGOVIĆ A. missed free throw (2 of 2) |
|
Top players
| VALUE (INDEX) | ||||
| Gnjidić L. | 13 | - | 37 | Ivanović N. |
| POINTS | ||||
| Alibegović A. | 12 | - | 29 | Ivanović N. |
| REBOUNDS | ||||
| Dragić Z. | 6 | - | 7 | Lazarević S. |
| ASSISTS | ||||
| Gnjidić L. | 7 | - | 5 | Ivanović N. |
