“We start our playoff series against Zvezda, and we know what the opponents have: youth, athleticism, enthusiasm and nothing to lose,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “They definitely have their points of emphasis, but I am not going to go deep into details. We have Game 1 ahead of us and we are going to take this series game by game. We have to be concentrated, dedicated and motivated. Our fans proved that they can really be our sixth man this season so I ask them to come in big numbers again and help us.”
Important numbers
CSKA is the Euroleague’s top-scoring team with an average of 92.1 points per game. CSKA leads the league in performance index rating (108.1) and in both three-point shots made (244) and accuracy (42.96%).
Nando De Colo leads the Euroleague in performance index rating this season with an average of 24.7 per game and in scoring with 19.7 points per game.
De Colo has scored in double figures in each of his last 27 appearances.
De Colo has made 92.4% of his career free throws and is the most accurate free throw shooter in Euroleague history.
Milos Teodosic has made multiple three-pointers in each of his last 15 Euroleague games. Teodosic has made at least 1 three-pointer in 46 of his last 47 Euroleague games.
Teodosic needs 1 more three-pointer to catch Jaka Lakovic for third place on the list of most three-pointers made in competition history. Teodosic enters this week’s game with 380 career threes.
Teodosic has scored in double figures in each of his last 14 Euroleague games.
Cory Higgins is the league leader in three-point accuracy this season at 54.9%. He has made 28 of 51 threes.
Kyle Hines has 139 career blocked shots and with his next rejection will tie Denis Marconato for seventh place on the Euroleague career list.
Hines needs 5 more steals to reach 100 for his Euroleague career.
Andrey Vorontsevich has made at least 1 three-pointer in each of his last seven Euroleague games.
Vorontsevich needs 17 more points to reach 1,000 for his Euroleague career.
Past matchups
Wins-losses: 6-0
1969-70 – European Champions Cup. Group stage. Crvena Zvezda – CSKA: 82-85 (+3)
1969-70 – European Champions Cup. Group stage. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 105-92 (+7)
1972-73 – European Champions Cup. Semifinals. Crvena Zvezda – CSKA: 90-98 (+8)
1972-73 – European Champions Cup. Semifinals. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 100-83 (+17)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round. CSKA – Crvena Zvezda: 86-62 (+24)
1999-00 – Euroleague. Preliminary Round. Crvena Zvezda – CSKA: 65-80 (+15)
Short dossier
Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, Serbia
Founded: 1945
Colors: white, red
Homecourt: Kombank Arena (25.000), Pionir Hall (8.150)
President: Nebojsa Covic
Head coach: Dejan Radonjic
Website: www.kkcrvenazvezda.rs
Trophy case:
- Cup Winners Cup (1974);
- ABA Champion (2015);
- 15-time Yugoslavian champion (1946, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 69, 72, 93, 94, 98);
- 3-time Yugoslavian Cup winner (1971, 73, 75);
- Serbian champion (2015);
- 5-time Serbian Cup winner (2004, 06, 13, 14, 15)
