A defeat for Olympiacos in Istanbul
Olympiacos lost 77-69 to Anadolu Efes for the 29th day of the Euroleague and now holds a 19-10 record one game before the end of the Regular Season, which is the road game against CSKA Moscow on Friday, April 7.
Our team made an excellent beginning in the game. Olympiacos got to lead 2-10 with Anadolu Efes not even being able to take a shot at times. However, the outlook became different later in the game. Efes, with Heurtel on a great evening, found rhythm and the first quarter ended 22-15 with the hosts running a partial 20-5 in four minutes.
The difference was up to digit numbers in the second quarter, but Olympiacos reacted with Spanoulis and Printezis leading and half time was 43-37 for the Perasovic' team. The entrance of Ioannis Papapetrou in the third quarter and the great defense played by the Greek Champions allowed the Sfairopoulos' team to make a two point game, but the Turkish side with some 'crazy' shots once again built a margin to have a 58-51 score at 30'.
The outlook was totally different in the last quarter. Olympiacos played a much tighter defensive game, Efes got nervous and the score was close. Nevertheless, it was Efes that found the right answers; got a few offensive rebounds plus two shots by Honeycutt and Heurtel practically decided the game and the hosts won 77-69.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 22-15, 43-47, 58-51, 77-69.
Αnadolu Efes (Perasovic): Thomas 2, Honeycutt 11 (1), Balbay, Brown 9, Οsman 8, Granger 7 (2), Heurtel 18, Mutaf, Paul 11 (1), Dunston 11.
Olympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 5 (1), Birch 6 (4reb), Young 4 (4reb), Papapetrou 8 (2 3p), Spanoulis 11 (1 3p, 10as), Waters 5 (1), Agravanis 7 (1), Milutinov, Printezis 16 (9reb), Mantzaris 2 (5reb), Αthinaiou.
THE QUOTES
GIANNIS SFAIROPOULOS: "I would first of all like to congratulate our fans for their great support. We really put a great effort on the floor to win and make them happy. I would like to congratulate them for winning the 'battle' in the stands in a packed gym. They really helped us and gave us boost", the 50 year old coach stated at first.
In regard to the game, Giannis Sfairopoulos pointed out that "in the first five minutes of the first quarter, we controlled the rhythm. However, following the time out called by Efes, we received a partial 20-6 and if we take a look at all the quarters, this was the score that actually decided the game. We came back a few times throughout the game. Unfortunately, we faced two unexpected problems, Green suffered a strained muscle and Milutinov wasn't feeling well. I still think though that it was certain details that decided the game. I would like to congratulate Efes. They won a fair victory".
VELIMIR PERASOVIC: "It was a tough game. Whenever you play Olympiacos, you have to expect a tough and hard game. They never give up and know how to fight. So, you can never expect an easy game against Olympiacos. We weren't good in the first five minutes, but we were very good throughout the rest of the game".
BRYANT DUNSTON: "We did a good job. It was an important game for us. When we came on the floor, one of our goals was to control the game and the rhythm. Last time we played them, I can say that they somehow imposed the tempo of the game. I think we did a good job with the rebounds, we played fast, we caused them a lot of foul trouble with positions that they cannot play good defense, because we know how to play. We wanted to beat them before they were able to set their defensive game and we did a great job on that part".