The 'red & whites' winning streak stopped in Dubai
Olympiacos lost to Dubai at the Coca-Cola Arena 105–98 in the overtime, a result that snapped a 5-game winning streak and dropped the team’s record to 16–9.
Tyler Dorsey was the leading scorer for Olympiacos with 18 points, while Evan Fournier added 16 and knocked down the 3-pointer that sent the game into overtime.
Giorgos Bartzokas started the game with Walkup, Dorsey, Ward, Vezenkov and Milutinov and saw his team make a poor start for the first time in a while. Dubai jumped to a 9–2 lead, with Wright and Avramovic causing problems for our team's defense. Olympiacos then found scoring through Dorsey (7 points) and Milutinov (6 points) and balanced the game, but the team from the United Arab Emirates responded once again and pulled ahead 26–17.
At the start of the second quarter, Dubai ran the floor effectively, led by their big men (Petrusev and Kabengele), while the returning Dzanan Musa made some difficult threes to give them the advantage again.
Evan Fournier made his presence known in the beginning of the second quarter by hitting long-range threes, but Dubai once more found solutions in the transition. Olympiacos committed several turnovers and made poor decisions late in the first half, and the hosts capitalized by pushing the pace at every opportunity. Aleksa Avramovic was the undisputed MVP of the first half, recording 15 points, 3 assists and 4 steals in 14:21'', giving his team a 12-point lead (52–40).
Olympiacos finished the first half with 10 assists and 10 turnovers, which 'gifted' 13 points to Dubai and inevitably left them trailing by a double-digit margin.
In the second half, Olympiacos saw Nikola Milutinov finish efficiently around the basket, but Dwayne Bacon, with consecutive points and tough plays, pushed his team back to +14 (67–53 at 25:29).
From that point on, Olympiacos reacted by turning mistakes into their usual strong ball movement and applying much more pressure on defense, managing to get back into the game. Vezenkov, Ward and Jones were excellent on both ends of the floor, and Bartzokas’ team closed the period with a 22–30 run, cutting the deficit to four points (74–70) at the end of the quarter.
Although Jones’ dunk brought Olympiacos within one basket after a long time, Dubai continued to perform at a high level. Wright, Bacon and Kabengele pushed the lead back into double digits before Fournier punished the defense with tough long-range shots. In the final 5', Olympiacos fought to come back for a 3rd time; and once again, Evan Fournier was there.
The Frenchman scored 11 points in four minutes, while Alec Peters added 5 more back-to-back, setting the stage for Olympiacos to become contenders again. The team took the lead for the first time with 2' remaining in regulation after a basket by the American, but Jurica Golemac’s team found answers once more. Before the final possession, Kabengele made 2 free throws and Bartzokas called a timeout. Fournier faked Anderson, created space and hit a three, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Olympiacos did not perform as they should have and, after missing several easy baskets, gave Dubai a confidence boost. Olympiacos scored on just one of their 8 possessions in overtime, and Dubai secured the win, 108–98.
The quarters: 26–17, 52–40, 74–70, 95–95, 108–98.
