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Nate Wolters led his team to a valuable road win in what was perhaps his best game for Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade on Thursday against his former employer, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.

Wolters shined for Zvezda in his Tel Aviv return

Facing Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in front of the home crowd at Menora Mivtachim Arena is never easy. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade shrugged off the fans as well as being short-handed and grabbed an important road victory - thanks in large part to the former Maccabi guard Nate Wolters.

Wolters poured in 17 points including 2 three-pointers late in the third quarter to regain control of the game for Zvezda, which won 63-75. Nikola Kalinic was actually the game’s top scorer with 19 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the winning effort. But so much of the attention went to Wolters, who played for the Israeli champs in 2019-20.

Wolters dismissed questions after the game about him being extra motivated in facing his former team and said: “We just needed a road win early in the year. It’s always good to win on the road. We have a lot of guys out right now. It’s been a tough situation early in the year but we played really well tonight and played good defense and didn’t let them get in a rhythm all night.”

Nate Wolters shines for Zvezda in his Tel Aviv return | Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Zvezda head coach Dejan Radonjic hinted that Wolters may have had a higher level of motivation for the contest: “Every game in the EuroLeague we have a huge motivation and I think he had a big motivation tonight to play well. I hope he will continue like this."

Radonjic actually called this game Wolters’ best for the club - also taking into account the 27 EuroLeague appearances he had for Zvezda in 2016-17.

“This was his best game for Zvezda - not just this year but also from when he was with the team before,” the coach said.

Wolters’ former teammate at Maccabi Angelo Caloiaro wasn’t surprised by the performance.

“We’ve played with Nate. We know that he’s a heck of a player. It’s fun to play against old teammates. He got going tonight. He was really good for them,” Caloiaro said.

Also really good was Zvezda’s defense. Prior to giving up just 63 points on the road against Maccabi, Radonjic’s men held Fenerbache Beko Istanbul to just 61 points in Round 1, albeit in a 61-57 road loss in Turkey.

Radonjic was happy about his team's ability to step up to win in a tough environment.

“To win here you have to be ready to play at both ends. It’s always nice to play in a great atmosphere and today it was a big challenge for us to play against Maccabi in front of fans,” the coach said.

And Zvezda showed it was up to the challenge.

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv v Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (2021-10-07T18:05:00.000Z)

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### High-Gravity Matchups
In a rematch of last spring's semifinal opener at the Final Four, CSKA Moscow earned a hard-fought 100-96 victory over reigning champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul on the road in Sinan Erdem Sports Hall to avenge their 89-86 loss five months ago in Cologne. The difference for CSKA was apparent in what wound up being an equally competitive contest. Scoring around 1.05 points per possession in half-court situations in both games, CSKA tallied 15 points over 8 transition possessions on Friday compared to just 7 points over 4 such possessions back in May. Doing a better job turning defense into offense, CSKA's opportunism switching ends off steals and creating advantages off rebounds ultimately tipped the scales in its favor to stave off a comeback effort sparked by Vasilije Micic's 32 points and 7-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc for Efes.

### Barcelona's fearsome fivesome
While Efes fell to 0-2 with that loss, the champions' resume from last season offers plenty of reasons not to panic. They set the EuroLeague standard on the offensive end and came around defensively in the second half of the season to close out one of the most competitive seasons in league history as the titleholders. While Efes has stumbled early, last season's runner-up FC Barcelona has found itself on the opposite end of the spectrum. Finishing the 2020-21 regular season with the best record and top point differential, Barca has taken a head-start on achieving both feats again this year, thanks in large part to a five-man unit that is establishing itself as the league's one watch through two rounds.

Last year, the four-man unit of Nick Calathes, Cory Higgins, Pierre Oriola and Alex Abrines were on the floor for only 12% of Barcelona's possessions but produced a +79-point differential over the course of the season. That was a higher mark than 12 entire teams and one of the top such point differentials for one unit in recent history. It is still too early to buy into any surefire trends this season, but as the graphic above illustrates, the five-man group of Calathes, Higgins, Nigel Hayes-Davis, Nikola Mirotic and Brandon Davies is already a +21 through two games.

Given the continuity between these groups – indeed, Mirotic and Davies filled a lot of the wildcard minutes as the fifth player in last year's unit – it is not particularly surprising that Barcelona has been able to lean on a familiar recipe for success. However, with this group being on the floor for 27% of all Barca's possessions so far, it is worth wondering if this lineup's early dominance and heavy usage are a sign of things to come for Sarunas Jasikevicius's club and how he will adjust his rotation when Alex Abrines returns from injury.

### Looking ahead to Round 3
Conveniently, Barcelona will host the team currently sitting second in the standings, Olympiacos Piraeus, in Round 3. Allowing opponents to score just 0.72 points per possession, top-ranked among all teams through two rounds, Olympiacos has relied on a strong ability to get stops in taking home wins against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Real Madrid. Going on the road now against Barcelona's lineup of doom, the Olympiacos defense will be put to the test again. It will be particularly interesting to see how Greek powerhouse approaches guarding Nikola Mirotic, who is coming off one of the most efficient individual offensive seasons in EuroLeague history and has scored an absurd 33 points over only 16 possessions to start the 2021-22 campaign.

It only took only two rounds for a marquee matchup to deliver a thriller and for one five-man lineup to emerge as a difference-maker.

Stats Review: Barca's lineup of doom

Barca put up outstanding shooting numbers from the field, making 18 of 27 two-point attempts (66.7%) and 9 of 18 from beyond the arc. 

Standout stats: Barca's stellar shooting

Unsurprisingly, that included last season’s most accurate three-point shooter, Kyle Kuric, making 2 of his 3 attempts. The visiting team also had plenty of trips to the foul line and made decent use of those with 17 of 21 free throws made.

Barcelona bounces back against Valencia

FC Barcelona snapped its three-game losing streak by beating Valencia Basket 89-72 at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday. Barcelona improved to 12-6 in the standings, while Valencia dropped to 10-8. Alex Abrines led the winners with 16 points, Cory Higgins and Adam Hanga each scored 13 and Rolands Smits and Sergi Martinez got 10 apiece for Barcelona. Louis Labeyrie paced Valencia with 17 points, Mike Tobey posted 14 points and 10 rebounds and Joan Sastre had 13 points for the visitors. Barcelona led 18-12 after 10 minutes and extended it to 32-16 soon after that. Labeyrie, Nikola Kalinic and Tobey rallied Valencia to within 38-33 at halftime. Smits and Pierre Oriola helped Barcelona restore a 67-54 margin after 30 minutes and the hosts never looked back.



Higgins got Barcelona going with a floater, but Sastre followed a layup with a triple in a 0-7 run that Tobey capped with a backdoor basket. Higgins dunked off a steal and fed Hanga for a three-pointer. Higgins followed a three-pointer with a layup and got help from Smits, Martinez and Leo Westermann for an 18-10 Barcelona lead, which Martin Hermannsson cut to 18-12 after 10 minutes. Hermannsson and Labeyrie brought Valencia a bit closer, 20-16, early in the second quarter. It didn't last long, however, as Martinez scored twice around the basket and Abrines nailed back-to-back three-pointers in a 12-0 run highlighted by Hanga's dunk. Labeyrie sank consecutive triples, but so did Hanga for a 38-22 score. Labeyrie insisted from beyond the arc and Tobey added a dunk-and-foul in a 0-11 run which Prepelic capped with a buzzer-beating layup off a great inbound play to bring Valencia within 38-33 at halftime.

Catch up on FC Barcelona vs Valencia Basket highlights from Round 18 of the 2020/21 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, 7th January 2021

FC Barcelona vs Valencia Basket Highlights - Round 18 - 7th January, 2021

Kalinic followed a put-back basket with a driving layup soon after the break, but Nick Calathes made it 43-37. Derrick Williams erased Pierre Oriola's layup with a huge alley-oop dunk, but Higgins hit a jumper for a 47-39 score. Smits and Oriola soon allowed the hosts to restore a double-digit margin, 52-41. Sastre downed a floater and fed Labeyrie for a jumper, but Smits kept Barcelona fully in charge, 60-47. Sam Van Rossom and Sastre each hit a three-pointer. Oriola and Abrines boosted the hosts' margin to 67-54 after 30 minutes. Abrines and Oriola kept pushing Barcelona early in the fourth quarter and Martinez added a layup that broke the game open, 72-54. Abrines downed a three-pointer and Higgins scored again, but Prepelic brought Valencia within 77-63 with 6 minutes left. Valencia never gave up but Barcelona was on its way to a well-deserved win.

### Pivotal performer

Nick Calathes had a strong all-around performance and just missed a triple-double. He finished the game with 8 points, 7 rebounds - all on the defensive end - and 7 assists, also drawing 3 fouls for a PIR of 15.

### Game-changing moment

Barcelona found its rhythm early in the second quarter, turning defensive stops into easy baskets. Sergi Martinez scored twice down low, Alex Abrines buried consecutive three-pointers and Adam Hanga found space for an uncontested dunk. All of a sudden, Barcelona led 32-16 and even though Valencia returned to the game, the hosts never trailed after that.

### Stellar stats

Barcelona committed only 6 turnovers - a season-low and the club's lowest number since October 2018. Valencia had twice as many, finishing the game with 12 turnovers. Barcelona made 11 of 19 three-point shots (57.9%) and Valencia buried 10 of 25 (40.0%).

### Did you know?

Barcelona remains undefeated against Valencia at Palau Blaugrana in EuroLeague action - three victories in as many games. Barcelona is now 5-1 against Valencia in Europe's marquee competition. Valencia's only win, 81-76, came at La Fonenta on January 16, 2018. Bojan Dubljevic, who missed the game tonight, led the way in that game with 19 points.

Abrines-003478.jpg

FC Barcelona snapped its three-game losing streak by beating Valencia Basket 89-72 at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday.


FC Barcelona v Valencia Basket (2021-01-07T20:00:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona stayed stop the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings by downing Khimki Moscow Region 87-74 at Palau Blaugrana on Wednesday. 

Mirotic leads Barcelona to home win

FC Barcelona stayed stop the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings by downing Khimki Moscow Region 87-74 at Palau Blaugrana on Wednesday. Barcelona improved to 11-3 in the standings and remained undefeated against Khimki at home with its sixth consecutive win against the Russian powerhouse. Meanwhile, Khimki dropped to 2-12 and is now on a six-game losing streak. Nikola Mirotic led the winners with 24 points. Cory Higgins added 20 points, Alex Abrines 13 and Pierre Oriola 10 for Barcelona, while Nick Calathes dished 12 assists. Alexey Shved led Khimki with 22 points. The guests also got 13 each from Sergey Karasev and Jordan Mickey. Barcelona led 32-25 at the end of a high-scoring first quarter, boosting its margin to 51-41 at halftime and then again to 69-53 after 30 minutes, never looking back.



Higgins needed just 6 seconds to strike from downtown and Mirotic added a jump hook for a 5-2 lead. Abrines downed a triple and Mirotic added consecutive fastbreak layups, giving the hosts a 14-7 edge. Vyacheslav Zaytsev and Dairis Bertans each struck from beyond the arc for Khimki and Jordan Mickey added an alley-oop slam. Nonetheless, Mirotic and Oriola boosted Barcelona's lead to 24-15. Shved stepped up with a tip-in and a three-pointer, getting help from Karasev to get Khimki within 27-23. Rolands Smits and Adam Hanga restored a 32-25 Barcelona lead after 10 minutes. Mickey posted a three-point play and a jumper early in the second quarter and Shved hit a runner. Brandon Davies and Smits, however, kept the hosts ahead, 36-32. Shved fed Devin Booker for a huge alley-oop slam but Davies scored down low and Higgins added a three-point play at 41-36. Shved struck from way beyond the arc and Karasev sank a jumper, then Mirotic followed a floater with a jumper, getting help from Higgins and Abrines to make it 51-41 at halftime.

Catch up on FC Barcelona vs Khimki Moscow Region highlights from Round 14 of the 2020/21 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, 16th December 2020

FC Barcelona vs Khimki Moscow Region Highlights - Round 14 - 16th December, 2020

Abrines and Karasev traded threes right after the break, then Booker and Zaytsev hit layups to give Khimki hope at 54-48. Mirotic rescued Barcelona with 4 quick points and Abrines fired in his third triple for a 61-51 score. Davies and Oriola stepped up before a layup by Mirotic fixed the score at 69-53 after 30 minutes. Kyle Kuric, Shved and Stefan Jovic each struck from beyond the arc early in the fourth quarter. Karasev scored off a steal to bring Khimki within single digits, 72-64, with over 6 minutes left. Barcelona found a go-to guy in Higgins, who had 7 points in a 9-0 run that sealed the outcome, 81-63, with 3 minutes remaining.

### Pivotal performer

Once again, Mirotic was highly effective on offense, helped on the boards, and made sure his team added another win. He finished the game with 24 points on 7-for-8 two-point, 2-for-3 three-point and 4-of-4 free-throw shooting, adding 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 7 fouls drawn for a PIR of 34.

### Game-changing moment

A three-pointer by Shved brought Khimki within 42-39 late in the first half. Mirotic stepped up with a floater and a jumper, igniting an 11-2 run that bridged the halves. Abrines capped the run with a bomb from downtown, giving Barcelona a 54-41 margin which the hosts handled well until the final buzzer.

### Stellar stat

Barcelona shot really well from beyond the arc and took great care of the ball. The hosts nailed 10 of 15 three-point shots (66.7%) while Khimki only make 11 of 36 (30.6%). Barcelona finished the game with 26 assists and only 13 turnovers.

### Did you know?

Shved played his 150th EuroLeague game on the night of his 32nd birthday. He just needed 150 games to score 2,470 points and dish 689 assists. No other player with 150 games or less matches Shved's achievements: Vasilije Micic had 639 assists in 137 games, and Keith Langford amassed 2,289 points in 143 showdowns.

Mirotic-000796.jpg

FC Barcelona stayed stop the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings by downing Khimki Moscow Region 87-74 at Palau Blaugrana on Wednesday. 


FC Barcelona v Khimki Moscow Region (2020-12-16T18:00:00.000Z)

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