The first period decided everything in Madrid, with European champions Real beating Olympiakos 90-85 in the match of long absences for both teams.
The away match against the European champions was inherently difficult for Olympiakos, but on Thursday night (25/1) things became even more difficult for the Piraeus who played in Madrid without Nigel Williams-Goss, Nikola Milutinov, Mustafa Fal and they also lost Giannoulis Larentzakis (troubles in the back) before losing the match 90-85.
The red and whites fell to 12-11 after the 23rd matchday of the EuroLeague (8-4 at home and 4-7 away), who had several positive, fighting, stubborn and self-confident players. Luke Sikma, for example, was in all the battles on defense and offense, the career-high power forward prodigy Kostas Papanikolaou (he lost his starting five spot after 110 games to help out as a backup PF) and Alec Peters followed, only Olympiacos didn’t have the details, the big defense, the big basket and stayed with the great performance in the last three periods.
Real rose to 20-3 (11-0 at home and 9-3 away), which played without the injured Sergio Yule, Gerson Yabusele, Eddie Tavares. She also had her many, important problems, but she built the difference in the first quarter that took her to the end even though she was stressed and flirting with defeat. Canan Moussa was magical in the third period, Gabriel Deke and Mario Hezonia supported him superbly and Chus Mateo was certainly pleased with both the performance and the result which is more important anyway, especially the way it was achieved .
Ο MVP
Janan Moussa is an amazing scorer, one of those players that everyone takes for granted that will put up 15 points “off”. That was how it was on Thursday night (25/1) for the Bosnian, who stopped at 20 from 4/7 two-pointers, 4/7 three-pointers and big shots in the third period and in the finale. Perhaps Real Madrid’s most underrated player.
BASKETBALL
January 26, 2024 00:02
The weak link
Isaiah Kanan and Filip Petrusev did not give anything more, on the night when Olympiacos really needed them. 6 points (3/4 two-pointers, 0/2 three-pointers) in 20 minutes from the American, 4 points (2/7 two-pointers) in 14:37 from the Serbian tall.
BASKETBALL
26 January 2024 00:03
The stats that stood out
With two rebounds (defensive, from Real’s only missed shots) Olympiacos closed the first quarter, in which it did not provide an assist. At halftime the Madrid players had 18/26 shots and the Piraeus 2/15 three-pointers, with Bartzokas seeing only three mistakes, at the end of the night Olympiacos had 20 final breaks and had wasted only seven possessions. But he also missed eight shots. 8-6 points in surprise, 10-13 points from opponent mistakes, 11-15 points from second chances, Papanikolaou’s career-high 25 points, Sikma’s career-high seven offensive rebounds.
The race
With Walkup, Kanan, Brazdeikis, Peters, Petrusev, Barzokas opened the match, keeping Papanikolaou on the bench for the first time after 110 consecutive games in the EuroLeague. The Piraeus received a 10-0 run (14-7 in 6′), the home team put everything in (5/6 three-pointers) and at the end of the first period (30-13) the score was heavy.
The red and whites didn’t shoot well, they didn’t have toughness, they didn’t have good returns and they tried to get back into the match with Larentzakis, McKissick, Papanikolaou, Sikma at the beginning of the second. The difference did not open dangerously, Sikma was the one who won the impressions with his scoring close to the basket and with his battles for rebounds on both sides of the floor, but again, 52-30 at 20′ left no room for improvement for analyzes and optimism.
With Cabassos setting up and Moussa executing, Real went up +24 (60-36) early in the second half, only to be followed by three pointers from Peters – Papanikolaou that showed Olympiacos still had life. A separate 4-15 put pressure on the home team, with Bartzokas no longer having Larentzakis at his disposal and the score at 30′ at 68-55. Which was not enough for the people of Piraeus to believe in the reversal, but it was also a small victory after the first twenty days.
At 32′, Olympiacos reduced to nine (68-59), Peters also reduced to seven (68-61), but there two mistakes by the American in defense and attack led to +11 for the home team. And yet, Papanikolaou continued to play stubbornly. So did Shikma, constantly renewing attacks. “Pap” hit his fifth 3-pointer to make it 82-76 in the 37th minute, but at the four, McKissick was blocked on a layup attempt, Walkup made a bad pass to Sikma and Campasso cleared the game.
THE REFEREES: Belosevic, Paterniko, Rakis
DECADES: 30-13, 52-30, 68-55, 90-85
REAL MADRID (Mateo): Cozer 3 (1), Fernandez 5 (1 three-pointer, 4 assists), Ambalde 8 (2 three-pointers, 4 rebounds), Cabasso 12 (4/6 two-pointers, 0/4 three-pointers, 4/4 shots, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 turnovers), Hezonia 16 (2/7 2-pointers, 2/3 3-pointers, 6/6 shots, 5 rebounds), Rodriguez 2 (1/5 shots, 2 assists), Deck 14 (4/6 2-pointers, 2/4 3-pointers), Poirier 7 (9 rebounds), Ediague 3, Moussa 20 (4/7 2-pointers, 4/7 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 3 assists)
OLYMPIAKOS (Bartzokas): Walkup 7 (1/6 3-pointers, 2/5 shots, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals), Kanan 6 (3/4 2-pointers), Larentzakis 2 (1/6 shots), Mitrou-Long 6 (2/4 2-pointers, 0/3 3-pointers, 2/2 shots, 7 assists, 1 foul), Papanikolaou 25 (2/4 2-pointers, 6/8 3-pointers, 3/4 shots, 4 rebounds), Brazdeikis 4 (1/ 3 2-pointers, 0/1 3-pointer, 2/2 shots), Peters 12 (3/4 2-pointers, 1/2 3-pointers, 3/3 shots, 5 rebounds), Petrusev 4 (2/7 2-pointers), Sikma 10 (5/ 10 2-pointers, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block), McKissick 9 (2/3 2-pointers, 1/2 3-pointers, 2/4 shots, 3 rebounds)
Real Madrid’s team stats: 21/37 2-pointers, 12/28 3-pointers, 12/13 shots, 39 rebounds (29 defensive – 10 offensive), 24 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks, 10 turnovers, 24 fouls
Olympiacos’ team stats: 22/44 2-pointers, 9/26 3-pointers, 14/22 shots, 36 rebounds (22 defensive – 14 offensive), 20 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 7 turnovers, 20 fouls
The next matches of the two teams: In the 24th matchday, Real will welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv (30/1 at 21:30), while Olympiacos will play in SEF against Alba Berlin (30/1 at 21:15).