He was… A legend in the second half, he beat Kaunas with a terrific upset and shouted happy new year!

He escaped from Kaunas and shouted… happy basketball year o Olympic!

Performing an incredible second half in defense and attack, the “red and whites” managed to “erase” the mediocre to poor appearance of the first, they came back from -14 and celebrated a great away win in the packed and hot ‘Zalgirio Arena’ with score 92-85 over Zalgiris for the 19th matchday of the Euroleague!

Thanks to his favor individual scores 52-33 in the second half, Giorgos Bartzokas’ team made it four consecutive wins in the tournament, rising – albeit temporarily – to the top of the standings with a record of 13-6!

Leading for the winners was Sasha Vezenkov with 24 points (19 in the second half) and 7 rebounds, with Shaquille McKissick (17p.), Evan Fournier (14p., 3as.) and Thomas Walkup (13p., 5as.) to offer valuable help. For Zalgiris, which dropped to 10-9, Sylvain Francisco stood out with 22 points, tying his career record in the institution.

The match:

THE Olympic, who started the match with Walkup, Fournier, Papanikolaou, Wezenkov and Fal in his starting five, entered the court very lazily and lacked tension in his game. With their offense “stuck” on several occasions and making bad shots under time pressure, especially with Fournier, the “red and whites” found themselves chasing the score early. With Francisco in the… twilight zone scoring twelve straight points (3 3-pointers) in a span of 2.5 minutes, Zalgiris led 16-6 in the 6th minute.

Somewhere there, the Piraeus reacted with Walkap’s two-pointer, but also the back-to-back three-pointers of Papanikolaou and Vezenkov. they cut it to 18-16 two minutes later. The Lithuanians responded with… four points from Ulanova, before Walkup set up 22-18 in the first period. The Greek guard was actually the one who kept the Piraeus standing in the quarter, which he completed with 8 points and 3 assists!

By stealing and pinning him McKissick in the open field the second periodwith Olympiakos reducing to a basket (22-20). The “red and white” defense, however, was hurt again behind the 6.75m, as, with the home team’s second four-pointer in the match (!) and Manek’s three-pointer, they widened the gap at +10 (31-21) at 12′. McKissick continued to provide scoring solutions, being the only one to connect with the opposing basket, reaching 9 points for the 34-30 at 14′.

But again, Andrea Trinkeri’s team managed to “build” double-digit values, even reaching +12 (44-32) with Lonnie Walker and Smilagic as the main speakers. The introduction of Fournier helped the visitors get back on the scoresheet, with the Frenchman scoring six points. for 44-40 at 18′. However, Olympiacos did not continue in the same pattern, however, conceding an 8-0 partial score in the final period (2 3-pointers in that period), going to locker room behind the score with 52-40. Indicative of the bad Greek defense was the fact that Zalgiris finished the half with 11/17 three-pointers.

That’s how you send the fans into halftime hyped! ??

Sylvain Francisco pulls up for a three to close the half and the crowd erupts! ???? pic.twitter.com/MtnYRsjpMX

— SKWEEK (@skweektv) January 2, 2025

The scene was completely different in third quarter, with the short break, but also the… voices of Bartzokas during the break, to work beneficially for Olympiakos. And this is because the “red and white” entered the second half quite concentrated, playing good, targeted and aggressive defense. With Dunston’s basket on the first possession, Zalgiris went ahead for the first time at +14 (54-40), with Vezenkov and Fahl then properly “fueling” and reducing with consecutive baskets on the racquet at 58-52 at 24′.

Somewhere in there, it was his turn Evan Fournier to come forward, which with two three-pointers of his own, plus a basket by Sasha, the Piraeus reduced the difference to the minimum price for 62-61 a minute later. Smilagic and Sirvidis with a quick 4-0 made it 66-61, before Olympiakos with four points from Sasha and a terribly difficult fade away basket by Fournier in the final cut the difference to 4 for 71-67 of the period.

Evan Fournier’?n basketiyle ucuncu ceyrek kişim?yor.

Zalgiris Kaunas 71-67 Olympiakos pic.twitter.com/sBKBoxr6ES

— Euroleague Time (@euroleague_time) January 2, 2025

With the same, and even greater, concentration and passion on both sides of the floor, the Piraeus entered the fourth and final period. There, where their defense from… soft in the first half, evolved into “steel”, keeping Zalgiris without a point for almost five minutes! During this time, Olympiacos ran an impressive 13-0 run by the hands of Vezenkov, McKissick, Milutinov and Goss, for the “red and white” +9 and 80-71 at 35′! In fact, the guests’ first lead came after 31:19 minutes of the game!

Dunston and Butkevicius went on a 5-0 run to cut it to 80-76, with Wezenkoff, McKissick and Walkup’s 3-pointer shortly after. in 87-78! Two minutes before the final, the Lithuanians tried to gather the difference, however, the good defenses in the final gave the victory to Olympiakos with final 92-85.

The quarters: 22-18, 52-40, 71-67, 85-92.

See here the statistics of the match.