Another great victory for Olympiacos!

Olympiacos beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 82-71 and now has a 17-7 record following 24 games for the Euroleague Regular season.

Olympiacos began the game determined to prove who the boss in the game was going to be. Lojeski, Green and Printezis were unstoppable and hence the 'reds' took a 13-17 lead playing great defense at the same time. In the second quarter, Green continued scoring without pause, but lack of concentration in defense made the score from 13-21, 20-21. Olympiacos 'replied' with Lojeski to make the score 20-28 and half time was 32-40 for the Greek Champions.  

The game was really up-tempo in the first five minutes of the third quarter, it seemed that the score was going to skyrocket, nevertheless, Olympiacos' defense put a stop to the Israeli and kept the Bagkatskis' team at 13 points during that time and the score was 45-58 at 30'. In the last quarter, the rhythm really stepped up. The score was high since the defense was loose. However, Olympiacos was keeping up with a great offensive game and was never actually threatened for a second winning the game 71-82.

THE POINTS
The quarters: 13-17, 32-40, 45-58, 71-82.
Maccabi Tel Aviv (Bagatskis):  Rudd 11 (1), Seeley 9, Mekel 12 (2), Pnini 3 (1), Segev, Ohayon 11, Landesberg 17 (1), Iverson 8.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 16 (1 3p, 3reb, 2as, 2st), Birch 6 (6reb), Papapetrou 2 (6reb), Waters 14 (2 3p, 1as), Agravanis, Μilutinov 2 (6reb), Printezis 15 (1 3p, 5reb, 2as), Papanikolaou 11 (1 3p, 4reb), Mantzaris 1, Lojeski 15 (2 3p, 4as).  

THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: «It was a very important victory for us, against a very talented and good team, especially when playing in their home court and especially dangerous with their offense. I think that the important thing was that our defense was very focused for most part of the game. Through our defense, we controlled the tempo of the game. We did not allow Maccabi Tel Aviv to score many points, like they usually do. We passed the ball correctly in the offense, at some points we really played a good team game in order to find the right shot. We need to also acknowledge that Maccabi was missing players. Our task would have been harder should their roster was full. It's also characteristic of our game that we have had five players that scored double digits. It was hard to prepare the game because we didn't know who was playing and who wasn't, also having in mind that some of Maccabi's key players were out for tonight. In general,  we had the right approach to the game and the only thing I'm not satisfied with is how we played during the last five minutes of the game. We did not play good defense and gained nothing from our offense. I wish Maccabi all the best, wish their injured players a speedy recovery" the Greek coach said at first. Asked on whether Olympiacos will be playing the Final Four as an outsider, the Greek champions' coach was crystal clear: "It's very early to talk about the Final Four. Not just the Final Four, it's very early to even talk about the play offs. We are looking at one game at a time. We cannot be thinking about the distant future, it takes patience and concentration and we are only thinking about the next game, nothing more".

Next question was about the injuries of Vasilis Spanoulis and Patric Young. "Spanoulis is our leader and we miss him a lot. We want him back with us the soonest possible. Patric suffered from tendonitis, he's now back, but I didn't want to push him and risk a relapse. We know that he will gradually be back at 100%. As for Spanoulis, he's on the right path and has been working hard to come back absolutely ready".  
As for what comes next in Greece and the Euroleague, Giannis Sfairopoulos said: "We've been working hard, we have good chemistry, if we continue working hard just like we've been here and remain humble, we are going to have a good future".

MILAN TOMIC: "The fact that they were playing without three players, made the coaches' job harder in terms of preparing the game. Our players did what we asked them to at 100%. We controlled the game from second one to the last. We only relaxed during the last 3:30'', resulting in them closing in and we have seen what can happen in situations like these. It is for certain that Waters played one of his best games, I believe he can give even more. We know very well what this player is capable of, he was trying to find his footing in the beginning and now I think he can do even better. Surprises are a norm every week, we now have to beat Darusafaka and Galata and see what comes from that point on. The more you get close to the Regular Season's end, the more demanding "have to win" becomes. I think that we have a seasoned team, we have experienced players who can cope with pressure"  

MATT LOJESKI: "Tonight I got on the floor shooting better than how I was doing in the previous two or three games. We did a good job and got a great victory. We need to be focusing at one game at a time, we cannot be focusing on Real or some other team, we cannot be focusing but only on Darusafaka. We are waiting for Vasilis to join us, to see him on the floor once again at 100% and do even better. Each time we play at home, we aim to win, we play even better in front of our fans and I think that it only depends on us what happens in these two games".  

AINARS BAGATSKIS: "This game proves my point. No matter how good a defensive game you play, if you don't score when attacking and especially against a team like Olympiacos, you are going to lose. We took a lot of open shots in the last minutes, but we missed. However, I cannot accuse my players of anything, they fought for three quarters and could do nothing more, due to the missing injured players. We should not quit any game and hence try to please our fans. We now need to forget about this game and move on. I think we are in a good path".