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Red Star Belgrade started top 16 phase with four strait losses, but they lost by Europe powerhouses such as Barca, Real Madrid and Maccabi, and one little unexpected loss to Galatasaray. They stopped this losing streak by beating Alba Berlin and they beat Szolnok at home with 43 points difference. That is not a vast accomplishment, but it can be seen as sign of them elevating their form.
On the other hand, Zalgiris has score 1:4 as well. Similarly to their tonight's opponents they only beat Alba Berlin at home. They played decent basketball so far, but with no opportunity to get a away win.
Both teams are much better at home, and this is especially case for Red Star, since they have one of the loudest home supporters in Europe. So, in this duel, home court advantage is a big factor, and this time it is on Red Star's side.
Going to through the rosters, the main treat for Zalgiris is Boban Marjanovic, probably the most dominant center in this year's Euroleague. Zalgiris has some big guys such as Javtokas and Gudaitis, who will be able to stop Boban to some extend, but he is 12-15 cm bigger then those two, so they will not be able to stop him entirely. Moreover, sole fact that Zalgiris players will concentrate on him, can give some room to other players in Red Star's rotation.
I think that Marcus Williams, Red Star's playmaker will be the X factor in this game. He has been struggling with injury in past couple of weeks, but he seems fit in the last game. He did not play much in last game as well, so he is well rested, and Stafan Jovic, his substitute will probably be out for this game, so he will have lot of room. He is man of the moment, loves playing in front of loud home crowd, and we can expect something extra from him.
Zalgiris' biggest offensive threat is James Andreson, but Red Star is probably strongest defensively in the forward position. Nemanja Dangubic and Nikola Kalinic are very strong, very athletic and very good defenders, so with two of them guarding him, Anderson will have much harder time in scoring points.
Both final result and first half is good bet, but I would go with first half, because the spread is only 3,5, and many of Red Star's opponents are often overwhelmed by the atmosphere, so Red Star players often use it and create same advantage in the early stage of the game.
Pick: First Half Winner 1 (spread 3,5)
Odds: 1.88
Bookmaker: ➾ Unibet
Stake: 10 units
Tipster: Montecobra
| TIPSTER: Montecobra | Total profit: -11.16 | Tips won: 2 |
| Country: Serbia | Total yield: -27.90% | Tips lost: 3 |
| Speciality: Basketball | Total picks: 5 | Tips pushed: 0 |
| 11.10 | • Cedevita - Crvena Zvezda | 2.25 | 8 | ❌ | -8 |
| 15.02 | • Olimija - Buducnost | 1.7 | 7 | ❌ | -7 |
| 14.02 | • Basilashvili N. - Zverev A. | 2.12 | 7 | ✅ | +7.84 |
| 14.02 | • Cibona - Partizan | 1.75 | 8 | ✅ | +6 |
| 05.02 | • Red Star - Zalgiris | 1.88 | 10 | ❌ | -10 |
