Olympiacos broke at the end!
Olympiacos fought hard against Real Madrid, stayed in the game for 35 minutes, but wasn’t able to complete its counter attack during the last five minutes of the game and lost the Madrid Final Four final 78-59.
During the first quarter, the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos played amazing defense and managed to lead 15-19. In the second quarter though, poor shooting and especially with free throws cost 'Thrylos' that was found trailing 35-28 at half-time.
In the third quarter, the Madrilènes were leading 40-29, but a 12-0 streak by the Piraeus team made the score 40-41. The two teams were fighting by the point, but Real having Carroll in an amazing night succeeded in leading 53-46 at 30'. In the last quarter, Olympiacos attempted a come-back and closed in 56-50, but at that point and despite the 'reds' playing three great defensive plays did not score so as to come even closer, five point by Nocioni gave Real a +10 lead once again and everything was over.
Τhe quarters: 15-19, 35-28, 53-46, 78-59
Real Madrid (Laso): Rivers 5 (1), Fernandez 7 (1), Nocioni 12 (2), Campazzo, Maciulis 9 (2), Reyes 2, Rodriguez 11 (1), Ayon 2, Carroll 16 (4), Llull 12 (2), Bourousis, Slaughter 2.
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Petway 2, Hunter 10, Dunston 4, Spanoulis 3, Papapetrou, Sloukas 10 (2), Printezis 11, Agravanis, Mantzaris 1, Lafayette 1, Darden, Lojeski 17 (3).
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "We are disappointed right now, but we are also deeply proud, for making the Final one more time. The season did not start well, but despite the difficulties, we fought and made yet another Final Four. My players deserve to congratulated, all the staff members and everyone close to the team. My players made a huge effort and brought the team to yet another final. We thank our fans for supporting us the whole season and were beside us. We promise them that we are going to be doing our best to reach more finals and titles. We are now focusing on our last goal which is the championship. Congratulations to Real for winning the titles after so many years. They played very well tonight and the way they played they deserved to win. We one more time tried for the best, under difficult circumstances, playing against a full roster, a team with many solutions in its hands, that was playing in its home court. We began well but did not continue the same way. Our defense did a good job and the final score does serve us justice. Unfortunately numbers tell the truth, we weren't good in offense, our percentages in free throws and rebounding weren't good, and we lacked energy. After the 16 offensive rebounds we got in the semi final, we only had 5 tonight. Also, Real made some very big shots in the second and third quarter, mainly with Carroll. These changed the momentum of the game and it was difficult coming back after that bearing in mind the quality of Real Madrid".
VASSILIS SPANOULIS: "One has to experience the opposite side as well. I also said the same two nights ago when we won. I'm proud. We exceeded ourselves against Barcelona and CSKA. We lacked energy tonight. This was obvious in the shots we missed and the rebounds we lost and in the free throws. We made mistakes that allowed Real to build up a difference. They deserved it. We need to go on. We have the play-offs now. The shots we made at the end in previous Final Fours were made by Real this time and they affected our psychology. You are always upset when you lose a final. When you learn how to lose, you become a winner eventually. We have to be mentally strong from now on. I believe we should remain focused in the league and win the championship together with our fans. You play the league to win home court advantage, since this allows you to be playing in your home, just like it happened for Real. When you play at home, you play at home, it's different. We need to thank our fans for being here, spending money during very difficult times".
GIORGOS PRINTEZIS: "I wouldn't say it was a matter of energy, the reasons to lose a final are many. I only want to say that we should all be feeling proud; we surpassed some very tough rivals. Real won the title, I respect each and any opponent and they deserve to be congratulated. We have overcome our selves both in and away from home as well as the fans that came here to be with us during very difficult times and this stands for something. We need to become even more of a team after this. We have the championship ahead of us, in case we win the title combined with participating a Euroleague final, I consider it to be a successful season".