Crvena Zvezda Beat Dubai 77-58, Then Get Fined 7,000 Euros

Dwayne Bacon opened the game in Dubai by scoring the hosts’ first seven points on his own, while Crvena Zvezda searched in vain for answers on offense. Jordan Nwora tried to get the visitors going with hard drives and jumpers. Few people expected what came next.

Crvena Zvezda beat Dubai 77-58 at the Coca-Cola Arena on Thursday, October 8, 2026, in round four of the Euroleague, leveling its record at 2-2. The hosts’ 58 points are the fewest they have scored since they began playing in the Euroleague. Zvezda also ended a two-year winless run in that arena, in both the ABA League and the Euroleague.

How did Zvezda turn the game around after trailing 16-21?

The first quarter belonged to Dubai. After Bacon’s opening burst, Moneke pulled Zvezda back into the game with five straight points, but Tornike Shengelia kept drawing fouls and put the visitors in the bonus very early. Late in the quarter Zvezda had a chance to close the gap completely, but Jared Butler and David Kramer got their signals crossed and wasted a two-on-one break, and Shengelia hit a three at the other end. Dubai led 21-16 after ten minutes. Midway through the quarter Navarro began gradually replacing the entire starting five, which brought the visitors nothing: they scored only two points in the last five minutes.

The second quarter was a different game. Zvezda won it 21-10 and at one point went on a 13-0 run. Dejan Davidovac scored his first Euroleague points of the season after an assist from Chris Jones. Together with Nemanja Dobric, whose availability had been in doubt before the game, and Semi Ojeleye, he brought energy on defense and on the boards. Bacon came back late in the quarter and attacked Nwora one-on-one successfully several times, which pulled Dubai closer, but Zvezda still went to the break up 37-31. After scoring 21 points in the first quarter, Dubai managed just 10 in the second. At halftime Dubai was 1 of 10 from three-point range to Zvezda’s 5 of 16, and the hosts had not yet attempted a single free throw.

The second half started with an 8-0 run. Nwora hit two threes in a row to give the visitors a double-digit lead, Nick Weiler-Babb drew an offensive foul at midcourt, and Tyson Carter scored a layup off that possession to extend the margin. Butler closed the third quarter with a basket, and in the fourth the hosts handed Zvezda easy points at the free-throw line with their own unsportsmanlike and technical fouls.

Zvezda also won the battle of the boards 41-36, though it lost the ball around ten times. Nwora led the visitors with 20 points, Ojeleye added 12 and Butler 11. For Dubai, Bacon had 13 and Shengelia 12. Nemanja Dangubic played a little over five minutes and did not score, and Filip Petrusev did not get on the floor at all.

Zvezda went into this game without the injured Jonathan Motley, which left Ebuka Izundu as the only traditional center. As a result, Zvezda often played a smaller lineup with Ojeleye at center, and that more mobile group kept Dubai’s big men under control. Nikola Djurisic traveled with the team but did not play either. Before the game we reported that Motley would not be in the lineup and that Dobric’s availability was uncertain.

What did Navarro say after the game?

Zvezda head coach Ibon Navarro praised his players first and talked about the result second.

“I congratulate the players on the win, but above all on the way they played,” Navarro said at the post-game press conference in Dubai.

Asked who deserved the credit for holding Dubai to a record-low point total, he had no doubt:

“The players, not the coach. We are not magicians,” Navarro replied.

On the fight under the basket, he said his team controlled the areas that had been a problem before much better. “We fought them on the offensive boards, even though they have very strong players, like Toko and Kabengele. There were many key moments,” Navarro said.

He singled out Davidovac, who played his first Euroleague minutes of the season after returning from injury and finished with 3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

“Dejan has a big influence on this team. He knows what to do at every moment and he is a very smart player,” Navarro said at the press conference.

Nwora on defense: “Nobody talked about it”

Nwora was the most efficient player in the game, and his two threes in a row set off the run that made the difference. After the game he also addressed a topic that has followed him since the start of the season: how he plays defense.

“My defense is pretty good so far this season. I think people talk a lot about how I play defense, but well, what can you do… Defense is much more than guarding your man. There are rebounds, steals… Last season I was among the best in steals, and nobody talked about that. I was also one of our best rebounders. But well, never mind,” Nwora said after the game.

He added: “I don’t think I’m a bad defender. People can think whatever they want. They could see it today as well.” Bacon did run past him in one of the first possessions, and Nwora had the ball knocked away right after a rebound, but he stayed focused and in the passing lanes for the rest of the night.

Euroleague fines Zvezda, and Lyon is next

After the game came news from the Euroleague: Crvena Zvezda was fined 7,000 euros for offensive chanting by fans at the round-two game against Hapoel Tel Aviv. The fine was issued under Article 29.2, paragraph f) of the Euroleague Basketball Disciplinary Code.

Zvezda had one win and two losses in the first three rounds. Zalgiris and Hapoel won in Belgrade, and the win over Anadolu Efes, 77-72, came only after that, followed by a 90-89 loss to FMP in the ABA League opener. Before this game Dubai had beaten Real Madrid 78-77 and Barcelona 94-87 in its own arena, and had lost 76-66 in Istanbul to Fenerbahce.

Next week Zvezda travels to ASVEL in round five, another team with a 2-2 record, and then hosts Paris at the Belgrade Arena. Dubai plays Baskonia in Vitoria in round five.