“Buttoned” at the top o Olympic!
Dominating most of the match, the “red and white” won 86-78 her Baskoniain SEF, concluding in first place the Euroleague regular season!
At 24-10 the Piraeus team record, while the Basques fell to 18-16 and currently they are 8th, but they are waiting for the result of Bayern-Zalgiris to know if they will participate in the playoffs.
Top o Vezenkov with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while equally good Papanikolaou with 16 p. and 9 rebounds. Good performance from Slukas too with 15p. and 6 assists.
Among the Spaniards, he stood out Howard with 29 points.
The match
Olympiacos started with Fal, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkap. The “red and whites” entered with absolute concentration on defense, where, controlling the rebounds and with reference points from Vezenkov and Papanikolaou in the attack, they led 10-2 in the first five minutes. Some mistakes followed and Baskonia made a mini-series 4-0 (10-6), with the Piraeus answering with the Bulgarian forward for +8 (14-6), in the 8th minute. Afterwards, Howard kept the Basques offensive, but Kanan and Slukas kept the Piraeus lead (19-11) until the end of the first period.
Olympiacos entered the second quarter sluggishly, and with Howard continuing to be “hot”, Baskonia made individual scores of 2-9 and came close to the point (21-20), at 12′. The answer of the “red and white” came from McKissick and Peters with a 7-0 run (28-20), with Sluka increasing the difference to +9 (34-25), in the 15th minute. Then, the Piraeus tightened up defensively and with polyphony in the attack with Vezenkov, Sluka and Larentzakis they reached +15 (45-30), at 19′. In the remaining time, Barzoka’s players were hitless, but went to the locker room with +12 (45-33).
Olympiacos started the second half with mistakes and missed shots, with Baskonia going 5-0 and reducing the difference to single digits (45-38), until the 23rd minute. The “red and whites” broke the… pomegranate with a three-pointer by Papanikolaou and, taking repeated defenses with baskets in the open court by Vezenkov, went to +13 (53-40), at 25′. Then, the Basques reacted again with the “hot” Howard and with a 9-0 run they reduced (53-49) in the 27th minute. The answer of Piraeus came from Vezenkov and Papanikolaou for +9 (58-49). In the last minutes, the match acquired a frantic pace, with Giedraitis and Thompson holding the Spaniards, but thanks to the three-pointers Barzoka’s team closed the third period at +11 (66-55).
Olympiacos entered the fourth quarter with the same momentum, with Papanikolaou and Peters three-pointers sending them to +17 (72-55). Baskonia pressed and reacted with Howard and Thompson, reducing the difference (74-63) in the 33rd minute. Sluka’s three-pointer temporarily gave the Piraeus team a breather, which maintained its double-digit difference and was at +12 (80-68), until the 37th minute. Howard returned from the bench and the visitors went on a 5-0 run (80-73), but Giorgos Bartzokas’ team remained in control until the end, thanks to their defense, to win by a score of 86-78.
The quarters: 19-11, 45-33, 66-55, 86-78
See the match statistics here
Watch the film of the match here
Source: Sport Fm
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