A tough road win
A three by Axel Toupane (with almost 17’’ to go), gave Olympiacos the victory against Kymi in Chalkida (77-74) and the ‘reds’ have now two wins in two games for the Betshop Basket League.
The ‘reds’ weren’t able to get into rhythm from the start… Defensive gaps, lost offensive rebounds and hasty attacks, allowed Kymi to close the first quarter leading 20-18. The situation was different after that. David Blatt’s players improved on their defensive game, moved the ball well (proof enough the 14 assists of the first half) and got to lead by 9 (30-39). But they weren’t able to hold on to it.
Stylianou made the score 32-39, which was the score of the first half, while the hosts continued strong, took advantage of the subpar Olympiacos’ performance on both ends of the floor and got ahead by 5 (57-52, at 29’). Relying on their good perimeter percentages, the ‘reds’ regained the lead (63-68, at 36’), however, not control of the game. About two minutes before the end, Kymi found itself leading by 2 (72-70) with a lay up by Poulianitis. Vezenkov tied the game with a follow (72-72), while Printezis gave a two point lead to our team (72-74), Washington tied the game for the hosts (74-74), and the final 74-77 was made by Axel Toupane with a three about 17’’ before the clock ran out. Suggs missed an attempt for a two, Toupane grabbed the rebound and ‘sealed’ the road win for Olympiacos.
The quarters: 20-18, 32-39, 57-54, 74-77.
Κymi (Κastritis) Bolds 9(1), Horton 14, Suggs 8, Camphor 2, Washington 24 (4), Poulianitis 5, Stylianou 2, Μaragkos 7, Τountziarakis 3.
Οlympiacos (Blatt): Printezis 7, Μilutinov 14 (6 reb, 3 as. 1 st.), Strelnieks 10 (2), Williams-Goss 15 (1 3p., 6 as.), Τoupane 12 (1 3p., 4 reb., 2 st.), Vezenkov 7 (13p., 6 reb., 2 as.), Papanikolaou 5 (1), Μantzaris 3 (1), Τimma, Leday 6.
"We are moving on to the next battle"
Olympiacos’ coach, David Blatt, commented: “Greek fans watched a very good game tonight and that’s a good thing. It wasn’t a close game due to things that happened in the previous days but because Kymi played really well. They played good basketball, very aggressive and gave us a hard time. Teams are going to have a very hard time here. My players have had energy reserves at the end made some good plays that we needed in order to find the way to win this game. We move on to the next battle”.
Asked if he had expected Kymi to be so competitive and how much the fatigue from the return trip from Moscow had an impact on Olympiacos, he replied: “I had expected them to be competitive and they certainly were… Anything else is an excuse. Our opponent played well, we didn’t shoot well. It was a tough game and they deserve the credit. We are going home smiling anyways”.
On whether Spanoulis’ absence had in impact on the team, he said: “It is definitely true that we were missing Spanoulis. But it’s my job not to think just about tonight’s game, but rather, what kind of season we are going to have in general, and what we need to be doing to be good not only today, but through the end of the season. This was the reason I chose to rest him. We did not have any other problems otherwise. He’s fine and I’m trying to come up with ways to keep him in good physical shape. But we were definitely missing him tonight”.