A head start for Olympiacos
Olympiacos bested Anadolu Efes 87-72 for the first Euroleague play-offs game and now leads the series 1-0.
The Greek Champions were excellent with their defense in the first quarter and hence were leading 18-11. Green and Waters offered solutions in the offense, and together with Mantzaris, Papapetrou and Papanikolaou were all over the floor with half time ending 42-31.
Printezis and Spanoulis took over in the third quarter and practically 'locked' the victory for Olympiacos sending the difference to +17 (67-50) at 30'. In the last quarter, the Turkish team tried to close the gap, succeeding to closing in at 11 (67-56) but it was as far as it went. The Piraeus team made the final 87-72 playing some great basketball and now lead 1-0.
THE POINTS
The quarters: 18-11, 42-31, 67-50, 87-72.
Οlympiacos (Sfairopoulos): Green 13 (3), Birch 4, Τoliopoulos, Papapetrou 6 (7reb), Spanoulis 10 (1 3p, 7as), Waters 6, Agravanis 4, Μilutinov 11 (7reb), Printezis 11 (1 3p, 11 reb), Papanikolaou 8 (1 3p, 4reb), Μantzaris 14 (4 3p, 6reb).
Αnadolu Efes (Perasovic): Thomas 6 (1), Honeycutt 17 (10reb), Balbay, Brown 3, Osman 2, Granger 12 (2), Heurtel 14 (2), Paul 6 (1), Dunston 8, Kirk 4.
THE QUOTES
VANGELIS MANTZARIS: « We were all together and showed to want the game a lot. We forced Efes into scoring only 32 points in the first half, something that comes from team work. We run the floor and our energy was obvious in the rebounding and the 18 offensive ones against a very athletic team. We controlled the tempo, however, it's just 1-0, nothing more. We continue to the next game. Efes plays up-tempo and they are sometimes uncontrollable, but we want to take advantage of the fans factor in our home court and have easy scoring. We also did that with the offensive rebounds, because if you don't allow them to get them, they cannot run and they are forced to slow down the tempo. We know what we need to be doing next. We need to have the same strength and energy to get another victory».
IOANNIS PAPAPETROU: «The coach said so. Everyone give an extra boost to the team and they need to give 100% when defending. That's our team. It will only become obvious next if we are ready enough. Let's not say big words. It's only 1-0 and it takes three victories. It's the first and very important step, but we need to be even more prepared on Friday, because the game is going to be all the more important. It's going to be a totally different game. They are going to be trying different things and they will give all they've got. Let's forget about tonight and be prepared the way we were tonight».
NIKOLA MILUTINOV: «For me, it's always the team winning that counts. If the team is winning, then I'm happy. I try to do the best I can when I get the ball. I need to work and improve more. We have been playing very good defense throughout the season and Olympiacos' signature is good defense. If we play good defense, then we know we have the foundations to win».
VELIMIR PERASOVIC: «Congratulations to Olympiacos. They beat us easier than maybe what they would have expected. The game was a lot like the one we played here 4 to 5 months ago as far as the way it played out. They came in more aggressive than us, they played harder, they challenged every ball and won most of them. When you fight for every ball, this is the result you get. We need to change a lot of things if we want to win, especially in this court».
TOMAS HEURTEL: «We made a very bad start in the game. Olympiacos had the control throughout. We played a bad game, but we have a second one in just two days. We missed a lot of shots and we need to change in view of the second game. Olympiacos stopped our fast break through their defense. They play the best defense in the competition and we need to cope. We have great motivation because it's the Final Four and not just because it's in Istanbul. However, there is no pressure. We want to play the best basketball we can».