“Leveled” Monaco and Olympiacos went to the final!

He came back from…hell and went to heaven o Olympic! With an eye shining in the second part, the “red and white”… drowned her Monaco through their defense and returning from -12 (29-41)they won (76-62) and qualifying for the Final Four of Kaunas!

Very nervous and tragically misguided in the first 20 minutes, but in the third quarter they entered with a “knife in their teeth”, making individual scores 27-2which essentially put them in the driver’s seat!

First scorer o Vezenkov with 19 points, with Papanikolaou to be just as amazing as 15p. and 8 rebounds. Better in the second part too Falwho finished the match with 12 points.

From here on out, a masterful performance from Sluka with 9p. and 7 assists, while a very good presence from Walkupwho did not score, but offered 3 rebounds and 7 assists.

For the Monegasques, who will play in the minor final, stood out James and Okobo with 17 points each.

The match

Olympiacos started with Fal, Vezenkov, Papanikolaou, Kanan and Walkap. Very nervous start from the “red and whites”, with several missed layups and Monaco going 1-6, in the first three minutes. Kanan and Papanikolaou “unstuck” the Piraeus team offensively, but the mistakes and the tragic failure returned and Lloyd and James took the Monegasques to +6 (6-12), in the 6th minute. Barzoka’s men then found three-pointers from Vezenkov and Papanikolaou, but James continued to be just as hot outside the 6.75m. for +7 (11-18) of the Principality team, which closed the first period at +6 (14-20).

With a “weapon” defense and the protagonists of McKissick and Sluka, Olympiacos entered the second quarter with individual scores of 8-2, for the tie (22-22), in the 13th minute. However, the sequel was not the same. Repeated cheap mistakes, tragic misses (even on free throws) gave Monaco the opportunity to go +7 (26-33), with Okobo and James, at 17′. The last three minutes were even more disastrous for the Piraeus team. The players of Barzokas did not put a basket in the field even with… a request, while even in the shots they remained very average. On the other hand, Okobo and James took advantage of every mistake and every basket in the open court and thus the Monegasques went to the locker room with +12 (29-41).

Another Olympiacos came out of the locker room in the second half. The “red and whites”… were biting in the defense and with Vezenkov, Papanikolaou and Fal finding rhythm in the attack, they ran a 14-0 run, for the lead (43-41), in the first four minutes. Okobo temporarily stopped the Piraeus streak, but their response was immediate and just as… thunderous, with this being the only basket from Saša Obradović’s total! With their defense, the Bartzokas players forced the Monegasques into unanswerable mistakes and with Walkap playing a terrible game creatively, keeping “hot” Vezenkov and Papanikolaou and a three-pointer… Larentzakis’ icing at the end, Olympiacos went on a 13-0 run, for the +13 (56-43), at the end of the third period.

Monaco entered the fourth quarter more aggressively, with Olympiakos maintaining its double-digit difference (60-49), until the 33rd minute. Two mistakes by the “red and whites” followed, which gave the Monegasques a 4-0 run (60-53), but they responded immediately in the same way, for the new +11 (64-53), in the 35th minute. Then, the pace of the match dropped, favoring the Piraeus, who took advantage of Fal for the new +13 (68-55), in the 36th minute. From that point on, Olympiacos had brought the game to its own pace, playing correctly with the time and maintaining the safety distance, reaching victory with the final 76-62.

The quarters: 14-20, 29-41, 56-43, 76-62

See here the match statistics

Watch the film of the match here