He returned to the road of success Olympic for the 12th matchday of the Euroleague, beating the fighting Paris with 98-86. Inside a crowded one Stadium of Peace and Friendshipthe “red and whites” overcame a sluggish start and raised their record to 8-4remaining in the high strata of the rating.
A great protagonist for Giorgos Bartzokas’ team was Evan Fournier. The French ace performed his most productive performance since the day he arrived in Greece, scoring 18 points and declaring himself “present” in critical moments. In contrast, Paris, who fell to 5-7, fought hard despite the absence of Nadir Ifi, having an amazing night from Justin Robinsonwho stopped at 35 points.
The surprise of the first period
The game started with Piraeus trying to impose their tempo, feeding Milutinov on the racket and finding solutions with Dorsey. In fact, in the middle of the period they led 11-10. However, the French team reacted immediately. With the long shot as a “weapon” and Robinson unstoppable (15 points in the quarter), Paris imposed its own frenetic pace. Olympiacos got carried away, lost its defensive cohesion and found itself chasing the score, with the first period ending at 21-29.
The “explosion” from the bench
The picture changed drastically in the second quarter. Giorgos Bartzokas shuffled the deck and the second five provided the necessary energy. THE Ward he was the catalyst of the counterattack, scoring 12 points in this period, while his worthy supporters were Peters and Papanikolaou. It took the home team just minutes to catch up and with an impressive 37-20 aggregate score, they went into the locker room leading by 58-49.
Management and big shots in the finale
In the replay, the return of the original five again brought a slight malfunction. Paris, refusing to give up, narrowed the gap (65-59) thanks to long shots by Morgan and Ouattara. At that critical point, the personality of the Olympiacos players spoke. Sasha Vezenkov and Evan Fournier scored big baskets, restoring order (71-59).
Although the visitors remained competitive, Olympiacos maintained control until the end, cruising to a 98-86 final victory.
The quarters: 21-29, 58-49, 75-69, 98-86.