The battle with Bayern was improbable, but Olympiacos did not bend under the pressure. He won 76-72 and continues to aim for the top six and direct qualification to the EuroLeague playoffs.
Another match that had the character of a final. Another match in which Olympiacos showed its character. Piraeus defeated Bayern on Thursday night (1/2) in a thriller match in Munich (76-72) and continue stubbornly for a place in the top six of the EuroLeague regular season.
The red and whites went up 14-11 (9-4 at home and 5-7 away), with Tomas Walkup doing things and miracles in the second half, with Ignas Brazdeikis getting three goal-fouls in the first period and Filip Petrusev to return after two games to boost the front line. Kanaan and Peters didn’t help and that’s why they stayed on the bench, Moses Wright didn’t have the image of his SEF debut two days ago, but Olympiacos did the job with an excellent Larentzakis before continuing to Valencia and Kaunas, in a very demanding period in the season.
Bayern fell to 10-15 (9-5 at home and 4-7 away), which lost even more ground for the top ten and the Play-In. Pablo Lasso was without Devin Booker, the struggling Serge Ibaka made the difference, but beyond that, apart from Sylvain Francisco, the Bavarians didn’t have many on a good night. And they also had 500 Olympiakos fans making it even more difficult for them, with the atmosphere more reminiscent of… a neutral stadium than Bayern’s home ground.
Ο MVP
Thomas Walkup needed a big match. And he had a great third quarter, a great second half, in a match Olympiacos had to win. And he won. 16 points, stubbornness, penetrations towards the Bayern basket and 8 assists without a mistake in 28:20. Filip Petrusev was also great with 14 points on 6/7 2-point and 2/2 shooting, their partnerships were invaluable late in the third and early in the fourth period.
The weak link
Carsen Edwards has been touted as a super scorer, yet he hasn’t proven much. He created problems for Olympiakos in last year’s series against Fenerbahce, but this year Piraeus destroyed him in Munich. He played 18:36, missed all seven shots he took, scored -2 points in the rating system.
The stats that stood out
Bayern closed the first period with 2/10 two points, Brazdeikis closed it with three goal-fouls! At halftime the two teams were low in creation (7-6 assists) having committed five fouls each, at the end of the night the hosts had 12 assists for 10 mistakes, with the Piraeus not wasting possession in the second twenty minutes, staying in five mistakes and win thanks to the attention they showed to the ball. 4-13 the points from the mistakes of the opponent. Isaiah Kanan was absent, two nights after his career-high treble against Alba.
The race
With Walkup, Kanan, Brazdeikis, Peters, Wright, Olympiacos opened the match, which went on big attacks, avoided the long shot and kept the score low (7-7 in the fifth minute). Brazdikis made a second foul to make it 9-10 in the 6th minute, a third foul to make it 10-13 in the 7th minute and saw his team close out the period with a three-pointer by Peters to make it 14-18.
Bartzokas opened the second with Walkup, Williams-Goss, Larentzakis, Papanikolaou, Sikma, he quickly put on McKissick, but saw the home team constantly hitting his five. He dropped Petrusev for the first time in the match at 14′ with the score tied at 26-26, saw his team get the better of circulation until Papanikolaou’s 3-pointer for 26-30 and Petrusev-McKissick assists for 31-35. but also easy mistakes that led to a 7-0 for the home team by halftime.
The Piraeus had no rhythm in the attack at the beginning of the second part, but at least it stayed close with a small 0-4 for 44-41 in the middle of the period. Before Walkup could recover, he scored in a flurry, putting his team ahead (48-47) and teamed up with Petrusev for an improbable basket for the +3 at the end of the quarter. The two opened the fourth for +5, with the American also giving a nine-point lead to silence the Bayern fans.
An 8-0 run by the Bavarians put them back in the match (59-60), Lorentzakis made a three-pointer for 62-68, Petrusev 2/2 shots for 67-72 in the 38th minute, but Williams-Goss and Walkup wasted opportunities and at 37.8″ Bayern had the possession at -3. Walkup erased Obst who came off the screen and missed, Larentzakis made the shots for 72-76 and decided the match.
THE REFEREES: Garcia, Bisang, Dragojevic
THE DECADES: 14-18, 38-35, 51-54, 72-76
BAYERN MUNICH (Lasso): Weiler-Bubb 6 (1/2 2-pointers, 1/2 3-pointers, 1/2 shots, 3 rebounds, 2 assists), Francisco 18 (3/6 2-pointers, 3/4 3-pointers, 3/3 shots , 3 assists), Edwards 2 (0/7 shots), Gifai 4, Radoncic, Bonga 4, Bolmaro 1 (0/5 shots), Lucic 8 (2 three-pointers, 5 rebounds), Obst (0/4 shots), Ibaka 18 (7/11 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointer, 1/1 shot, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks), Harris 9 (4/4 2-pointers, 4 rebounds), Brankovich 2
OLYMPIAKOS (Bartzokas): Walkup 16 (5/10 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointer, 3/4 shots, 8 assists), Williams-Goss (4/7 2-pointers, 2 rebounds, 2 assists), Wright 2 (1/4 2-pointers , 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block), Kanan (0/2 2-pointers, 0/2 3-pointers), Larentzakis 8 (2/4 3-pointers, 2/2 shots, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Mitrou-Long (0/1 3-pointer, 2 fouls), Papanikolaou 5 (1), Brazdeikis 11 (4/7 2-pointers, 3/3 shots, 5 rebounds), Peters 7 (2/3 2-pointers, 1/2 3-pointers, 4 rebounds), Petrusev 14 (6/7 2-pointers, 2/2 shots), Sikma, McKissick 5 (1)
Bayern Munich team stats: 21/41 2-pointers, 7/20 3-pointers, 9/11 shots, 34 rebounds (26 defensive – 8 offensive), 12 assists, 3 steals, 5 blocks, 10 turnovers, 16 fouls
Olympiakos team stats: 24/45 2-pointers, 6/17 3-pointers, 10/11 shots, 31 rebounds (25 defensive – 6 offensive), 17 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks, 5 turnovers, 18 fouls
The next matches of the two teams: In the 26th matchday, Bayern Munich will play in Belgrade against Partizan (8/2 at 21:30), while Olympiacos will travel to Valencia (8/2 at 21:30).