Olympiacos fought until the end but was betrayed by its failure against Real Madrid

He fought with all his might, but was defeated by the Real Madrid Olympiacos at the packed SEF.

In a game that was a derby throughout, with the two teams going hand in hand on the scoreboard, the ‘red and white’ were betrayed by their failure (mostly) in the decisive fourth period and eventually lost by 77-71falling to 6-6.

Giorgos Bartzokas’ team was very combative and showed a good face in defense, but finished the game with just 9/33 three-pointers and missed crucial shots when the ball was… on fire, allowing Real to finally celebrate the victory, going up to 11 -1 and remaining alone in first place in the standings.

Leading for Olympiakos in the match of the 12th matchday were Walkupwith 17 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds, while for Real Madrid the leaders were Muse (23p. with 5/7 three-pointers) and Hezonia (double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds).

The match

Giorgos Bartzokas started the game with his classic five, Walkap, Kanaan, Pananicolaou, Peters and Fal, while Tsous Mateo chose Campazzo, Kozer, Moussa, Ediage and Tavares. The match began with Papanikolaou’s steal and dunk, and then Real went ahead 6-2, thanks to a three-pointer by Ediage and a free-kick by Tavares. THE Canaan he committed his second personal foul and retired to the bench in the third minute, with Brazdeikis and Walkup tied at 8-8 and 10-10. Tavares dominated the racquet, reaching 9 personal points for 12-19, and then took to the floor Lorentzakis, playing good defense and scoring 5 straight points, for 17-19. Hezonia and Yule hit difficult shots, before Milutinov nailed home for 19-23 of the first period.

Although he had only one mistake, o Olympic he also had 1/9 three-pointers at the start of the second quarter, while Walkup and McKissick… they “broke the pomegranate” from afar, reducing to 24-25 and 27-28. However, Real built its maximum lead at that point of the match (29-37), with Hezonia starring offensively for the “queen”, reaching 11 personal points. Fal and the… x-factor Lorentzakis they reduced again for the 36-37while Olympiacos had a chance to go ahead, but McKissick missed a buzzer-beater three-pointer.

The third period started with Moussa coming in “hot” on her behalf Realscoring consecutive three-pointers for 38-42 and 41-45 and reaching 8 personal points within a few minutes, but Olympiacos found a reaction again, with Fal to defeat him Tavares for 43-45 and with Canaan to get fouled on a three-pointer and score his first points of the game with the shots, putting the home team ahead 46-45! the “hot” Muse reached 13 personal points in the third quarter alone, keeping Real in the lead (52-57), before Kanaan cut to 57-61with his first three-pointer of the match.

The fourth period began with Papanikolaou to score three in front of Deck for 60-61, with Moussa answering immediately and Walkup scoring five straight points of his own, reaching 16 and giving Olympiakos the lead (65-64). THE Hezonia with a very difficult three-pointer, again declared “present” in the attack of the “queen” for 65-69, and then the home team lost their concentration and had consecutive missed attacks, allowing Real to escape with 68-75. THE Walkup gave… a breather with a three-pointer for 71-75, but Real kept their cool in the finale, finally celebrating the victory with 77-71.

The quarters: 19-23, 36-37, 57-61, 71-77

The match statistics

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