A disappointing performance and a loss to Barcelona
Olympiacos delivered one of their worst halves of the season and suffered a 98–85 road defeat to Barcelona for the 15th round of the EuroLeague, dropping their record to 8–6.
For Barcelona, Will Clyburn and Kevin Punter stood out, combining for 52 of their team’s 98 points, while for Olympiacos, Sasha Vezenkov was the leading scorer with 22 points.
Giorgos Bartzokas started the game with Walkup, Dorsey, Fournier, Vezenkov and Milutinov, with the latter getting off to an excellent start by scoring Olympiacos’ first 4 points of the game.
Barcelona, shooting 5/7 from the 3-point range and with Clyburn making all three of his attempts from beyond the arc, built a 6-point lead (19–13) with 2:17'' left in the first quarter. At that point, Evan Fournier caught fire, going 3/3 from the field, and Olympiacos closed the quarter leading by one (21–22).
In the second quarter, Will Clyburn continued to cause problems for the 'red & white' defense, while Peters and Hall kept Olympiacos afloat offensively. When the starting five returned to the floor, Tyler Dorsey scored his first points of the night, and Milutinov followed Fournier to become the second Olympiacos player in double figures before halftime. However, some poor decisions allowed Barca to score easy baskets and go into the break with a 3-point lead (42–39).
After halftime, Bartzokas’ players came out lacking focus, and Barcelona, continuing to shoot incredibly well from 3-point range (9/14 up to 25'), quickly built a double-digit lead (59–47). In the third quarter, Olympiacos endured perhaps their worst stretch of the season on both ends of the floor, while 4 consecutive turnovers midway through the period pushed the hosts ahead 67–49 with three minutes remaining.
The third quarter ended with Barcelona up by 16 points (72–56), with Dorsey and Vezenkov scoring 15 of Olympiacos’ 17 points in the period.
In the final stretch, Olympiacos initially returned to the game with better focus, but the situation soon changed again. The 're & whites' repeatedly lost defensive rebounds, allowing Barcelona to score several second-chance points, while Olympiacos’ 3-point shooting continued to be disappointing.
Olympiacos finished the game shooting just 33.3% from beyond the arc (7/21), and combined with the offensive outbursts of Clyburn (28 points, 7/10 threes) and Punter (24 points, 3/4 threes), they were unable to challenge for the win, leaving Barcelona defeated 98–85.
The quarters: 21–22, 42–39, 72–56, 98–85.
