DUBAI: Dubai Basketball saw their perfect start to the 2024-2025 ABA League season come to an end following an agonizing 80-83 defeat to Serbia’s Mega MIS on Saturday night — in a game that was watched by NBA and global basketball royalty.
Both sides went into the Round 3 game with an unbeaten 2-0 record, and it was Mega MIS who maintained their flawless start to the season with a closely fought victory in front of almost 4,000 vociferous fans at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
Among the stars sitting at courtside were Denver Nuggets’ stars, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, a 2023 finals champion and MVP, and 7-time NBA All-Star, and Vlatko Cancar, who both played for Mega MIS, as well as Dario Saric.
They were joined by Denver Nuggets’ owners, Stanley Kroenke and Josh Kroenke, former EuroLeague president, Jordi Bartomeu, NBL owner, Larry Kestelman, BeoBasket owner, Misko Raznatovic, VTB League president, Serhiy Kurchenko, and owner of Gigantes Spanish basketball newspaper, Jose Luis Ortiz.
The fans were treated to a thrilling game that was decided in the last second, on a controversial foul call against Awudu Abass that brought Mega MIS’ Kosta Kondic to the free-throw line — scoring three consecutives to seal his team’s victory.
Earlier, the hosts made a strong start to the game, buoyed by strong home support. Leon Radosevic’s three-pointer was among the highlights that saw Dubai Basketball take a 24-18 advantage at the end of the first quarter. By the end of the second quarter Mega MIS had found their rhythm, but Dubai Basketball’s intensity saw them rewarded with a 45-36 advantage going into half-time.
The third quarter was closely fought as Mega MIS closed the gap to just three points at 63-60, setting things up for an enthralling final 10 minutes.
With the scores tied at 77-all, Kosta Kondic hit a huge three-pointer for Mega MIS to give his team a three-point lead going into the final minute. However, Dubai had their answer ready as Danilo Andusic drove through the lane for a tough-fought two, and was fouled in the process — making the free throw to complete tie the game at 80-80.
As the clock went below five seconds, with Dubai Basketball’s defense pressuring, Kondic’s three-point attempt was off the mark — but a foul was called, sending him to the line for three, with the entire game in the balance. Kondic kept his cool despite the loud Dubai crowd, draining all three shots from the line, and finishing the game’s joint-top scorer with Filip Jovic (16 points).
For Dubai Basketball, the US’s Isaiah Taylor scored a game-high 14, and also grabbed five rebounds while captain Klemen Prepelic continued his impressive form with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Dubai Basketball head coach, Jurica Golemac, was proud of his team and said there were positives to take from the defeat.
Golemac said: “We couldn’t catch the rhythm and break the game. We were up most of the game. But we never got through and Mega played extremely energetically and extremely quick. I would say at crucial moments we missed a couple of lay-ups and we let them shoot open shots on the end.
“The season is a marathon and not a sprint, but we need to learn from the mistakes. From the defeats — we are learning. Defeats make you learn; defeats make you work harder. In the wins, not everything is perfect, and in the defeats not everything is bad.”
Dubai Basketball will next be in action on Sunday, Oct. 13 when they travel to Serbia to take on Borac Mozzart. They will then return to the Coca-Cola Arena for the home game against Spartak Subotica on Sunday, Oct 20.
