Partizan Win the Eternal Derby in Overtime, While Greek Police Seize Almost a Million Euros in the Match-Fixing Scandal

The Eternal Derby: Partizan blow an 18-point lead, then rescue it with two threes

Partizan beat Crvena Zvezda 85:82 after overtime, in the first Serbian derby of the season in the EuroLeague. The black-and-whites led by 14 in the first quarter and by 18 at the start of the third, and then watched Zvezda win the final quarter 25:10 and take the game to overtime. When Zvezda went ahead 82:79, Carlik Jones and Alessandro Pajola each hit a three for 85:82, 17 seconds from the end. Partizan chose not to foul on the last possession, and Zvezda didn't even get a shot off before the buzzer. Jones finished with 26 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, while Zvezda's best was Chris Jones with 22. Partizan now lead 6:3 in EuroLeague derbies - a gap Belgrade will be talking about until the next meeting.

LeBron: minus 29 at half-time, a win and a smile for Trump

Philadelphia, with LeBron James, trailed Cleveland 40:69 at half-time and won 114:106 in the end. It is the biggest comeback in the club's history since play-by-play statistics have been kept, and the biggest of LeBron's 24-year career. Tyrese Maxey, with 32 points, led a 15:0 run in the final quarter, Joel Embiid added 24, Jaylen Brown 21, and LeBron finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. After the season opener against the Knicks, US President Donald Trump called him "a total disgrace" for continuing to warm up while the anthem was playing. After the win, LeBron just smiled: "Looks like a slow news day at the office." He has been an open critic of Trump since 2017, and after a night like this he clearly doesn't need to defend anything with words.

Greece: 931,463 euros in cash, six arrested, EuroLeague referees in the file

Greek police have officially confirmed that in the basketball match-fixing investigation they seized 931,463 euros in cash, 14 phones, six laptops and 22 USB sticks. Six people have been arrested, among them, according to Greek media, the president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation Vangelis Liolios. The file also includes names with EuroLeague experience: Vasiliki Tsarouha, the only active EuroLeague referee among them, was arrested on her return from Turkey and immediately suspended, while former referees Ilias Koromilas and Petros Papapetrou are also mentioned. According to the media, 820,000 euros were found in a safe in one referee's home. The investigation links the games to betting at home and abroad. An arrest is not a verdict, but when a safe with 820,000 euros turns up in a referee's home, who can still claim with a clear conscience that the results were decided on the court?

MZT pay for the chanting, Shtip warned over the scorer's table

The Basketball Federation of Macedonia has published its disciplinary bulletin after the third round of the Super League, and champions MZT Skopje Aerodrom are in the firing line. The fine is 10,000 denars for offensive chanting by fans towards the visitors in the game against TFT, won 70:66. That is a little over 160 euros for the national champions - does a fine like that teach anyone anything? The league's newcomer, KK Shtip, received a warning: its scorer's table must be brought into line with the prescribed standards.

Ashadanov leaves the women's national team after five years

The women's national basketball team is without a head coach: Aleksandar Ashadanov has resigned after five years on the bench. There is no official reason, and the decision comes in the middle of a rebuild of the team that he himself was leading, gradually bringing in young players ahead of the European qualifiers. In his farewell, he speaks of five years filled with "challenges, responsibility, difficult decisions" and thanks the players and the coaching staff. Now the ball is in the court of the Basketball Federation, which has to appoint a new head coach. When a coach leaves in the middle of a project without explanation, will the federation say what really happened?