No matter how great Red Star has had a season in the Euroleague, no matter how much it seems like it's a better team than Zalgiris - as a rule, it's the Lithuanian giant that wins head-to-head matches.
The "Greens" were better than the "Red and Whites" for the fifth time in a row, and tonight they inflicted their 11th defeat of the season at the Belgrade Arena - 86:80, which took the ABA League champion a step back in the fight for the top of the table.
Andrea Trincieri's team's point guard Silvan Francisco excelled with 25 points (six three-pointers out of nine attempts), and former Partizan center Alen Smailagić played an important role in the triumph, scoring 16 points without a single miss from the field - 6-6, of which three were from outside the 6,75 line.
Filip Petrushev stood out for Red Star with 16 points, while Nemanja Nedović scored 14...
Red Star is on a 16-11 record, as is Monaco, which lost to Olimpia in Milan 86:80.
Nikola Mirotic led the "models" with 22 points, Shavon Shields scored three less, while Eli Okobo had 16 in Monaco.
Paris, with 27 goals from TJ Shorts, was better than Monaco (93:88), while Real Madrid defeated Barcelona for its 14th triumph of the season - 96:91.
Mario Hezonja finished the match with 19 points and eight rebounds, Facundo Campazzo had 18...
Fenerbahçe suffered an unexpected defeat, losing to Maccabi in Belgrade - 94:76.
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