The Juventus crisis is increasingly clear and profound. At the home of the great former Milos Teodosic, captain Belinelli and his teammates suffered their seventh consecutive cup away defeat, and if the first half of the regular season had been heavenly, the return leg is instead turning into a hellish round. As expected, the Black Vu started off well last night too, closing the first quarter with a 21-23 lead. The balance continued until the end of the second period, when at 42 all, coach Banchi’s team managed to concede 6 points in the last 6 seconds, losing the ball after a 3-point shot by Tobey and taking in another triple by Teodosic on the mermaid. And the number 44, still loved by the Bolognese fans, had no mercy on his former teammates even after the break, continuing to score and above all to distribute his illuminating assists, in the end there will be 9 and 11 points. What kept Virtus afloat was above all Toko Shengelia, who scored 25 points and tried in every way to avoid the usual final collapse. But after the 74-65 of the last short interval, the fatigue took its toll as the hosts closed in crescendo until the final +15 at 94-79 with 25 points also for Nedovic. The continuing absence of Hackett and that of Cordinier are too burdensome for a team not strengthened by the signings of Lomasz and Zizic, who remained on the bench yesterday. To beat at home even a team with no more objectives like Red Star, Shengelia alone cannot be enough. Lundberg scored 15 points but is no longer the driving force he was some time ago, while Belinelli wrote 14 in his scoresheet, but with 5/17 shooting. The Bianconeri thus slip to eighth place with three days to go in the regular season and will have to grit their teeth to avoid falling further in the standings and also losing the advantage of home advantage in the play-ins in the one-off match for access to the quarter-finals. final with the best of 5 races.
2024-03-22 22:33:28
#defeat #Virtus #Teodosics #home
