Defense, a show and a lot of threes!
Olympiacos hand an easy evening against Lavrio (84-52) in a game for the 20th day of the STOIXIMAN.GR Basket League and is still at the top of the ranking.
Olympiacos stormed through the first quarter with the players of Giannis Sfairopoulos being amazing on both ends of the floor and hence the first quarter to end 25-8 for the Greek Champs.
However, the outlook changed in the second quarter. The Piraeus team defense was not as good with that of the first quarter and hence the guests found the chance to score and win the particular quarter, with half-time closing at 44-29.
All the more, the partial scoring streak of Lavrio was up to 0-11 at the beginning of the third quarter and difference got down six (44-38) at 23'. From that point on, however, Olympiacos changed the tempo, Young entering the game transformed the defensive take, Mantzaris began scoring consecutive threes and a partial 21-4 in the last seven minutes of the quarter made the score 64-42.
In the last quarter, the Piraeus team presented the fans with show time. The margin, following a dunk by Agravanis, reached +29 (73-44) with Olympiacos having run a partial 29-6 after 13 minutes following the score being 44-38. The last minutes had an absolutely procedural character in regard to the who the winner was going to be. Giannis Sfairopoulos tried different line ups and the game ended with Olympiacos reaching an easy victory.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 25-8, 44-29, 65-42, 84-52.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 8 (4reb, 1 3p), Birch 6 (4reb), Printezis 7 (1 3p), Mantzaris 12 (4 3p, 4 reb, 4as), Lojeski 10 (5reb), Young 2 (10reb), Toliopoulos 2, Papapetrou 10 (2 3p, 3reb, 2as), Waters 6, Αgravanis 9 (1 3p, 6reb), Milutinov 8 (5reb), Athinaiou 4.
Lavrio (Serelis): Punter 10 (1), Evans 12, Gray 12 (3), Perrakis 4, Nixon 4, Hamilton 2, Tsiros 1, Stefanidis, Athanasoulas, Kaklamanakis 2, Bolds 3, Giannakopoulos.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "We only showed respect for the team of Lavrio, a team with many capable scorers, who, if you underestimate, can be very prolific. I think that we were focused throughout the game, we had good rhythm on both ends of the floor while we put a solid foundation from the first quarter, when we only received 8 points. We were pluralistic in our offense that helped us get an easy victory. Pluralism is evident in the fact that all our players got to score, but defense was yet again the key, it's our characteristic quality. That's why I've been asking my players to remain focused on their defensive duties so that we can throw the opposing team off balance and hence find offensive rhythm. We played a good game and we now have some time to rest and organize the game against Darusafaka. I'm asking our fans to fill the gym. The closer to the end we come, the more support we need. We are not complaining about the support, but a packed gym gives the players extra strength".
Asked about Spanoulis and Papanikolaou, the Greek coach was clear: "Papanikolaou got to rest to a slight inflammation; it was a precautionary measure to keep him off. Spanoulis is recovering and we'll see when he's going to be ready".
DIMITRIS AGRAVANIS: "I think we played a good game tonight. We were serious throughout the game, we tried on both ends of the floor and I think this game is going to help us deal with a tough Euroleague program. Good luck to Lavrio and congrats on tonight's performance".