The final's 'dream' is gone...

Olympiacos failed to get the ticket to the final four final, paying for a bad first half and hence losing to the reigning European Champion, Real Madrid, 76-87.

Poor defense (proof enough the 53 points our team received in the first half), bad choices in the offense and the impressive good percentages by the Spanish team in the perimeter (9/13 in the first half), gave the Madrilène a +19 lead by 19'.  

With a 3-point shot at the end of the 2nd quarter, McKissic closed into 53-37, while the 'red & whites' appeared to be more focused into the second half. They put pressure in defense, found solutions with Alec Peters and Nigel Goss and shrunk the difference to 10 points (66-56 at 29'). Bartzokas' players continued pushing to turn the game around, however, each time they tried to drop the margin below two digits, the Spanish team would find solutions (mainly with Musa) and put more distance between the two teams. 

At 35' and while out team had come as close as to 8p. (77-69) Peters foul on Tavares and the technical foul coach Bartzokas received at that point, allowed Real to once again increase the distance (81-69). McKissic dropped it to 9p. (81-72 at 37'), but Real responded with a partail 6-2 (87-73 at 39') and sealed the fate of the game. The final 87-76 was written with a three by Alec Peters.

The quarters: 28-10, 53-37, 71-58, 87-76.