Olympiacos won and trails the series by 1!
Olympiacos beat Real Madrid 78-76 and the Back2Back Champions of Europe are now trailing the series 2-1. Next game is on Wednesday (23/4).
Our team made an outstanding beginning in the game. Bryant Dunston took apart any defensive system Pablo Laso used and hence the Back2Back Champions took a 23-15 lead following impeccable work on both ends of the floor. Nothing changed into the second quarter. Petway and Dunston were supporting Spanoulis, the same with Lojeski. Defense went on being a problem for the Madrilène who were only scoring taking “crazy” shots and half time closed 45-38.
The ‘reds’ went on giving trouble to the Real Madrid defense in the third quarter while Dunston was leading the team in offense and Thrylos was leading 65-58 at 30’.
Olympiacos was left without score for six minutes in the last quarter, Real originally closed in and then took the lead, but Giorgos Printezis scored a huge three and put the European Champions in charge once again. The game was led to the frustrating rotation of free throw shooting in the last minute, Sloukas made both of his and our team won 78-76 needing one victory to tie the series.
The quarters: 23-15, 45-38, 65-58, 78-76.
Οlympiacos (Bartzokas): Petway 11 (2), Dunston 21, Spanoulis 17 (1), Papapetrou 2, Sloukas 5, Collins 2, Simmons 4, Printezis 5 (1), Mantzaris, Lojeski 11 (1).
Real Madrid (Laso): Fernandez 18 (3), Reyes 13, Mirotic 5 (1), Rodriguez 19 (1), Carroll, Darden 5 (1), Llull 16.
GIORGOS BARTZOKAS: “We won an important game both in terms of the perspective of qualifying to the Euroleague Final Four, but also in terms of team pride. We controlled the game, sometimes in its entity. Real returned at the end taking advantage the stress and fatigue of some of our players. Our team’s character played a very important role tonight as well, with a decisive three by Printezis and some very good defensive plays. Dunston played an amazing game and was worn out. We have changed the way we play since Christmas, after acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of our players. We have varied our game a lot and we try to maintain balance close to the basket as well as away from it. It’s different when you play in front of your audience. Real has been playing with great confidence won through its total performance. We made some changes in our game. By winning we succeeded in putting some pressure on them that’s only going to get bigger should we win on Wednesday. It’s a very important game for the history of our team and we are only focused on it. It’s going to be a difficult game. Real is leading most of statistical categories. We shouldn’t be hiding; they are a team aiming to winning the Euroleague. If we play as a team and are determined, we have nothing to fear in our gym having the fans by our side. We are going to try to win”.
PABLO LASO: “Congratulations to Olympiacos, they played very strong and dominated most aspects of the game in the first half, rebounds, rhythm and defense. We adjusted our defense in the second quarter, we found a way to return to the game and we had a chance at winning at the end. The game was decided in the details, a shoot by Printezis and some other small things. They had more rebounds, assists, better quota and played very well. They are the Champions of Europe, they are a very good team and defended their title. However, I’m proud of my team, because, although Olympiacos was better at most areas, we fought to the end. Stats not always tell the truth. That’s basketball. We try to win every game. We know we have a great opponent against us and we have immense respect for the Champion of Europe. We need to forget about this game and focus on the next one. This question (i.e. whether they chose to play against Olympiacos) is foolish. I know there’s been a lot of talk about it, but it’s not possible to want to play against Olympiacos. We have great respect for both Olympiacos and Panathinaikos and I cannot understand how it is possible to want to lose a game so as to choose one or the other. We tried to beat Zalgiris, but they were better than us at that game”.
VASSILIS SPANOULIS: “First of all, we wanted to repeat the defensive game of the second half of the second game, that has been the goal and that’s what we did. We forced them to think, put pressure on them, they played an individual game, they made some very tough shots, I could call them crazy ones, but these 8-10 points made all the difference. Of course we could have closed the first half even better. We are now trailing by one game and we are still alive. We need to see what we did wrong and what we did right and play well on Wednesday. Now after this victory our psychology is going up while Real has to really start thinking what they are going to do should the series gets tied on Wednesday. We have our pride; we’re not going to sell ourselves cheap. They have made some crazy shots, but we want to push them into an individual game. We aim to taking them out of rhythm and keep a low score. The technical staff has done a great job tonight; we studied what was that we could do to challenge them. We had them thinking, we contained them below 80 points and got the victory. What we showed is that we like playing under pressure. We have proved so many times during recent years. I would also like to really thank the fans for their support. During a tough time due to the financial crisis, but also due to Easter holidays, when a lot of people our out of the city, our fans packed the gym. What I tried to do in the last play was to close the right side for Llull, I tried to block his way and no, there was no order for a foul”.