Photo: EuroLeague Basketball

Nikola Kalinić with a pivotal performance helped Valencia to stop a three-game losing streak by dominating Crvena Zvezda (91-71).

With 7 assists on his account against his formal team, Nikola Kalinić matched his assisting record in one EuroLeague game. But this is not the only reason why he was the pivotal performer. The Serbian player contributed on both ends in his team’s victory.

Kalinić was the best assistant in the match, and his Valencia gathered 22 against Crvena Zvezda‘s 11 assists. But the team from Belgrade jumped better than the opponent in this match (Crvena Zvezda 31, Valencia 23 rebounds). The advantage in rebounding wasn’t used well, because the home team had a better shooting percentage, especially in the paint (66.7% against 52.8%).

Nikola Kalinić, besides 7 assists, scored 14 points for the index ratings of 20. Sam Van Rossom had the best index ratings for Valencia (21), while the best scorer (16 points) was Louis Labeyrie. Mike Tobey added 13, Derrick Williams 12, and Joan Sastre 11. Bojan Dubljević is still off the court due to a problem with the injury.

Johnny O’Bryant scored 21 points for Crvena Zvezda and Quino Colom ended the match 11. Those two players were the only ones who had a double-digit scoring performance for the visiting squad.

Game recap

Valencia used this game to say goodbye to the best coach in the history of the club – Miki Vuković, who passed away at the age of 76 on Friday. Vuković coached the team from 1995 to 2000 and won the Spanish Copa del Rey in 1998.