Dubai Basketball need a much-improved performance when they face Partizan at home on Thursday after being soundly beaten 102-72 in the first of their best-of-three play-off semi-final on Monday.
Sterling Brown scored a game-leading 21 points while Duane Washington chipped in with 19 points to the Partizan cause. Davis Bertans top-scored for Dubai with 17.
Dubai head coach Jurica Golemac conceded seven-time ABA League champions Partizan deserved their victory in Belgrade, and urged home fans to show up in force for Game 2 at Coca-Cola Arena on Thursday.
“The better team won today,” Golmac said. “We lost possession too easily and committed too many turnovers to stay competitive at this level. But this team has character, and we’ve already proven we can compete with the best – including a win over Partizan at home. We’ll go back, analyse the game, regroup, and come out stronger."
Dubai are the only team to have beaten Partizan in their debut season, seeing off the Serbian club 80-72 in Round 23.
The nascent franchise booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Cedevita Olimpija.
“We need our fans more than ever," Golemac added. "Their energy and support at Coca-Cola Arena can make a real difference. We’re proud of how far we’ve come, but we’re not done yet – and we want to take this journey forward with the whole city behind us.”
The Serbian side took control of the game from the outset, showing why the Stark Arena is one of the most intimidating venues in European basketball. Partizan took advantage of Dubai's dysfunction to lead 28-20 in the first quarter. They were 53-33 up at the halfway mark and were never really troubled.
In the other semi-final play-off, Buducnost Voli of Montenegro outclassed Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda 104-70.
