Α win over Paris in a packed Peace & Friendship Stadium
Olympiacos bested Paris 98–86 in a packed Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF), reaching 8 wins in 12 EuroLeague games.
Our team left behind the loss to Armani Milan and played excellent basketball at times, highlighted by the second quarter in which they scored 37 points with fantastic ball movement. Olympiacos’ top scorer was Evan Fournier with 18 points, followed by Sasha Vezenkov with 13. Paris played without Nadir Hifi and had Justin Robinson in incredible form, as he delivered his best performance of the season with 35 points and 7 made 3-pointers.
Giorgos Bartzokas started the game with Walkup, Dorsey, Fournier, Vezenkov, and Milutinov, and the Serbian center opened the scoring with an and-one finish. Paris, applying its usual full-court pressure, was excellent from behind the arc in the first quarter (7/10) and, led by Justin Robinson, who hit 5 threes in the period, took an 8-point lead (21–29) at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter began with Alec Peters scoring the first four points, and after a burst by Tyson Ward, Olympiacos cut the deficit to one (30–31), forcing Francesco Tabelini to call a timeout.
From that point on, Olympiacos showed its truly strong side and, with excellent perimeter shooting, brought the game under control. Tyson Ward knocked down 2/2 3-pointers against his former team, and our captain Kostas Papanikolaou gave us the lead (39–38) with a shot of his own, 5 minutes before halftime.
In the next 5 minutes, Olympiacos raised its level even further and, powered by outstanding playmaking (17 assists), completed its best offensive quarter of the season, entering the break with a 9-point advantage (58–49).
In the second half the tempo dropped, and Paris, once again led by Justin Robinson, who reached 30 points before the end of the third quarter, cut the deficit to 3 (72–69). During this stretch, Olympiacos relied mainly on Evan Fournier for scoring, as he consistently had all the answers against his compatriots.
Olympiacos entered the last quarter of the game with a 6-point lead (75–69), and Donta Hall, with 4 points off 2 offensive rebounds, kept the margin steady early on. Justin Robinson, with his seventh 3-pointer, brought it again down to 3p. (81–78), but with 5 minutes left Walkup provided the answer from deep.
Our team, led by Evan Fournier, expanded the lead in the remaining time and ultimately secured the 98–86 victory.
Olympiacos will face Crvena Zvezda on the road for the 13th round of the EuroLeague.
The quarters: 21–29, 58–49, 75–69, 98–86.
