Ready for Abu Dhabi, even though this time it was difficult. THE Olympic made it 2-0 at the SEF against Real Madridin the Euroleague playoffs, dominating 77-71, and now needs another victory to “seal” the Euroleague Final Four ticket.
Olympiacos will seek – ideally – to succeed Sweep next Tuesday (29/4, 22:00, newsit.gr) at the Movistar Arena in Madrid. Giorgos Bardzokas’ team is a victory away from its specific goal, in favor of the relevant tradition.
Piraeus have never lost a Best of 5 series when they have been 2-0, which has happened three more times in the past. The first time was again against the Merengues in the 2008-09 season, with the Greek club qualifying 3-1. Same “setting” next year with Olympiacos qualifying 3-1 against Prokom, and in the 2012-13 season 3-2 was imposed on her.
Olympiacos was a “double -faced” against a Real Madrid that for a large part of the match had the lead (reached +13). But in the end, it was George Barzokas’ team that … smiled.
The raw -ray start of the reds
Olympiacos was “stunned” in the part of the match, both in defense and attack. The Piraeus players were unfortunate again behind 6.75m.
Olympiacos went to the locker room with just 3 apt three -pointers in 16 attempts in the first half, which translates to 18.8% (just 1 apt in the first quarter). The only ones that were scored were Vezenkov (1/3m), Fournier (1/4m) and Lee (1/2m), with Gokos (0/2m), Vildosa (0/2m), Papanikolaou (0/2m) and Peters (0/1m)!
On the other hand, and especially in the first quarter, Real had amazing efficiency (7/9 two -pointers, 3/5 three -pointers, 2/2 shots) and eight scorers!
Defense, Vezenkov, Milutinov and the… aura of Lee and Fourniere
Olympiacos was transformed by the end of his first quarter, where he received 25 points. Bardzoka’s team conceded 46 points in the other three periods, with its top performance in the second period, where it saw the Madrilen scoring just 13 points.
In this area, Thomas Wokapap had a decisive role. The Greek international did not put a single point in the match. However, he distributed 6 Sisms that were “translated” by his teammates into 16 points while also drawing 4 major defenses.
Regarding the defensive operation of the hosts, it was also characteristic that in the 4th period, Real Madrid was left without scoring for almost five minutes.
The Olympic side of Olympiacos was Sasa Vezenkov, with 22 points (2/8 three -pointers) and 7 rebounds. For yet another match, the Bulgarian international – albeit well marked – was there in the difficult times and heard the people found in the SEF shouting “MVP” for his sake.
Despite his bad start, Evan Fournier scored 17 points with 2/10 three -pointers, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists, giving the race finale the tranquility that the reds wanted.
Nikola Milutinov proved to be a catalyst. The Serb tall entered the second quarter and made his presence felt in the “painter”, with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
But the surprise came from Seben Lee. With 6 points he was “present” at critical moments for Olympiacos, even drawing some defenses, which roused the SEF.
Real Madrid appeared clearly more determined in Game 2, made it difficult for Piraeus, managed to reduce to 67-64, at 2: 25΄΄ before the end and were the two consecutive three-pointers by Alex Peters and Nigel Williams-Guiliam.