Belgrade Derby ready for another high-stakes chapter
It could be the EuroLeague's newest traditional rivalry, but Belgrade derbies have quickly taught us that they do not disappoint.
The two eternal Serbian rivals, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (7-11) and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (10-8), had never met in the Europe's elite competition before last season, but even an occasional basketball fan knows by now that these games have become a festival for the senses.
An eye-pleasing, jam-packed 18,000-seat arena with fans jumping up and down while painted in home-team colors and letting out ear-ringing cheers and boos seem to make the foundations shake at times.
Drama-filled derbies
Equally important for the entire experience is that heart-stopping on-court drama that each of their three clashes so far have produced. Not only did every game go down to the wire, but all wre decided by 3 points or less.
In their first-ever EuroLeague meeting, Zvezda rallied to stun Partizan 73-76 on a game-winning three-pointer from Nemanja Nedovic, only for Partizan to return the favor and take a 78-79 victory later last season. Earlier this season, Partizan rallied from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out an 88-86 win.
In that Round 5 game, Partizan lost Kevin Punter to injury in the fourth quarter, but had Aleksa Avramovic to step up. Punter has returned from injury and is coming off a 22-point performance in 19 minutes two days ago against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, but the team will be missing Avramovic on Thursday and, potentially, Zach LeDay.
But regardless of who is available or not, the Thursday night showdown promises to continue the now-established tradition of delivering thrill and drama.
Also, both Zvezda and Partizan are entering this Round 19 game on the rise, which feels especially true for the hosts.
Awakened Zvezda
Just two weeks ago, Zvezda was a disappointing 5-10 and faced three consecutive road games. But head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos's men found a way to bounce back, first sinking Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. Then, after losing to Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, Zvezda rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit on Tuesday to send Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul into its first loss under Sarunas Jasikevicius.
During this period, the team also parted ways with star guard Shabazz Napier while bringing back one of world's great young talents, 18-year Nikola Topic. Meanwhile, Joel Bolomboy is playing the best basketball of his career and we have seen vintage performances from Milos Teodosic, who will be poised to win in the Belgrade derby for the first time.
This entire sequence of events gave Zvezda a boost, not only to the players but also re-igniting the belief of its fans. Not that the fans needed a special invitation for the derby against Partizan, but the numbers and the way in which they waiting a blocks-long lines for tickets to Thursday's spectacle speaks for itself.
Unlike Zvezda, Partizan's rise started more than a month ago. Head coach Zeljko Obradovic's team had an impressive run of five straight wins in late November through mid-December, beating Panathinaikos, AS Monaco and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan at home, then Zalgiris Kaunas and Valencia Basket on the road.
Partizan then shook off back-to-back losses against Real Madrid and Virtus Segafredo Bologna, the top two teams in the standings, by dismissing LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Tuesday.
In that game, no player spent more than 23 minutes on the floor as the team remained fresh for the task coming 48 hours later.
While Partizan will be facing a hostile atmosphere, what will play in its favor is remaining at home during the double-round week and playing in the same Stark Arena where seven different players combined to knock down 12 three-pointers against ASVEL on Tuesday.
Zvezda had to return from Istanbul ahead of this derby, but in this type of game environment, the amount of rest a team has or doesn't is less likely to be a key factor, especially for the home team, which will have more than 18,000 souls giving the team a lift from the stands.
All involved, the players and the fans alike, know that Zvezda's third win in four games would bring it within two wins of a 10th place in the standings, the one that leads to the new Play-In Showdown that gives passage to the playoffs. Meanwhile, a victory by Partizan would solidify its own place in a playoff battle, and put it very much in the race for a historically crucial top-four finish.
With so much at stake, this clash of Belgrade archrivals is again one you do not want to miss.
