Baskonia came to fit 100 and 102 points in his last Euroleague duels and left Belgrade with only 64 against and with a victory (64-72) he needed like eating. He cemented it in his good defense, in the usual Toko Shengelia (19 points and 8 rebounds) and especially in Nik Stauskas , who with 22 points (16 in the third quarter) signed his best game as a baskon player. The Perasovic team set a new base on which to grow and on which to recover the sensations lost in the last weeks of competition.

It is not the Red Star the most fearsome opponent in Europe, but he chained three straight wins and played at home (at the Stark Arena, not in the historic Pionir), which means intimidation for any opponent who passes through Belgrade. More demanding tests will arrive for Baskonia in the not too distant future and in them you will have to apply the defensive recipe that gave you such a good result this Thursday.

It was a rather ugly encounter, of those who are not fond of, between two teams that do not have points left over. From the beginning, a different Baskonia was observed than the previous quotes, more conservative in their attacks and with greater defensive discipline. His greater dominance in the rebound and his success in the triple caused the first quarter to end with an advantage for those of Perasovic (14-20), although the feeling was of equality.

The truth, however, is that the last advantage of the Red Star in the match was 9-8. From then on, Baskonia was intelligently handling his advantage, mentally isolated from the increasing pressure of the Serbian fan, inflamed after three controversial arbitration decisions at the beginning of the second quarter. In him, Diop was the support of the Perasovic team, who after losing his advantage in the rebound went to rest with just one point of advantage (31-32).

The fear of spoiling the work done was there, more than present. However, Stauskas appeared to dispel it by the braves. The American escort, who must be the external reference of this team, finally offered a performance worthy of his status. Much more than worthy, really. In the third quarter, he scored 16 points, without failure in field shots, leading a Baskonia that placed the advantage at 13 points at the end of that penultimate quarter (43-56).

The maximum distance of the Vitorians was to be 19 points later, of course, a triple of Stauskas. Despite the evidence, the Red Star did not throw in the towel and tried by all means to re-engage the party under the leadership of Lorenzo Brown (20 points). His ankle injury, four minutes from the end and with the advantage cut to 10 points, was the beginning of the end for a Red Star who, at least, was able to make up the defeat.

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