By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With James Anderson and Alexey Shved creating a strong offensive backbone, Khimki Moscow beat Crvena Zvezda 85 – 78 for Round 3 of the EuroLeague regular season to remain unscathed.
This was the second defeat for Red Star that was quite competitive, especially in the first half when it led 44-43, but ultimately fell to the superior quality of its opponents.
The Star(s): James Anderson took a trip down memory lane with a performance reminiscent of his fiery Zalgiris Kaunas days: 24 points (4/7 3-pointers) plus five assists for a 28 PIR. His comrade in arms Alexey Shved also delivered with 18 points, a season-high nine assists and five rebounds of his own.
Defensive aggressiveness: Coach Giorgos Bartzokas talked about “a change in our approach” that took place after halftime and he wasn’t joking. The Serbians’ machine, energized by Milko Bjelica (15 points), James Feldeine (14 points) and Taylor Rochestie (13 points, five assists) was shut down in the third quarter, when the guests scored only 11 points.
Thomas Robinson who sat for the whole first half had an obvious impact after the break (9 points in 13 minutes) and the hosts grabbed a 12-point lead, 60 – 48, in the mid of the third which gained them enough momentum to carry them through the remainder of the match.