Milutinov leads Olympiacos to victory over Barca!
Utilizing a great defensive game and with Nikola Milutinov as the MVP, Olympiacos bested Barcelona on the road 69-60, for the 13th round of the Euroleague. Now the 'reds' are solely focusing on the Thursday game against Gran Canaria at the SEF (20/12, 20.00 CET), aiming to a victorious end to this double game Euroleague week!
Olympiacos made a strong start… He dominated the rebounds, was shooting quite good from the perimeter (3/5 threes in the first quarter) and Nikola Milutinov was doing an excellent job in the post. However, the terrible percentage of the 'reds' in terms of twos (a mere 3/12 with a lot of missed lay ups included), did not allow him to close the first quarter with a difference larger than that of +3 (14-17).
Zach LeDay took the baton from the Serbian center and kept the 'reds' in the driver's seat (18-22 at 14' and 26-30 at 18'). However, the lack of creation (only 2 assists up until 20'), together with many turnovers (8 in the first half), were the main reasons that David Blatt's players weren't able to go to the locker rooms after the first half with a wider margin that that of 2p. (30-32).
However, they were successful in the first minutes of the 3rd quarter! Olympiacos maintained his good defensive game, moved the ball correctly in the offense, got to 'strike' from the 3 point line with success, as well as from within the post and hence "built" a difference of +12 (35-37 at 25'). Barcelona tried to react and closed in at 7p. (48-55, at 30'), however, captain Vassilis Spanoulis and the excellent - for yet another game - Nikola Milutinov - widened the berth again (54-65) and got to lead our team to a huge road win!
The quarters: 14-17, 30-32, 48-55, 60-69.
Barcelona (Pesic): Seraphin 2, Pangos 3(1), Singleton, Hanga 9(1), Blazic 2, Heurtel 8, Pustovyi 4, Oriola 10, Kuric 7(1), Claver 13(3), Tomic 2
Οlympiacos (Blatt): Williams-Goss 10 (2 3pm., 4 as., 1 st.), Τoupane, Spanoulis 14 (4 3pm., 3 as.), Τimma 2, Μilutinov 16 (6/7 ftm, 5/8 2p, 12 reb. 1 as, 1 st, 2 bl), Strelnieks, Vezenkov 2, Printezis 2, Papanikolaou 6 (2), Mantzaris, Bogris 5, LeDay 10.
«Congratulations to my associates and my players»!
David Blatt congratulated everyone after the game… "We got a very good and important victory. I have been in this gym too many times in my career and I know very well that it's one of the toughest places to get a win. We came here prepared and my associates on the technical staff deserve the credit for the excellent job they did. The players executed the plan impeccably. We are now focusing on the Thursday game and we hope that our magnificent fans are going to be there, to support us and push us to one more victory".
«I have a great time with my team mates when on the floor»!
The Olympiacos' MVP, NIkola Milutinov, stated: "I feel great. I feel very well with my body and I have a great time on the floor with my team mates!"
When told that he almost "annihilated" Ante Tomic, he commented: "He had a bad game, that doesn't mean anything. He plays very well. I knew how important he is to Barcelona and that I had to stop him. I knew that if I played good defense, then our chances of winning would increase".
Asked on how much better he could be playing, he replied: "I hope I can… We'll see in the future. I don't want to say too much, you know that I'm humble. I play for the team. Tonight's performance means a lot to me. I hope to continue play well and help my team".