1-0 and off to Kaunas!
Olympiacos routed PAOK 83-65, leads the Basket League semi-finals series 1-0 and is now getting ready for Kaunas!
Following the tremendous effort it took to qualify to the Euroleague Final Four, the ‘red & whites’ appeared to have diminished levels of energy, which the team from Thessaloniki did not let go by unexploited. The guests put pressure in the defense, imposed the tempo from the start (9-14) and relying on their long range percentages consistently maintained the lead (17-22) up until 11’. A three by Alec Peters put our team ahead for the first time (25-24), but they still weren’t able to hold on to the reins… PAOK had excellent ball movement, went to better offensive decisions than Olympiacos did and was the one to close the fist half in the driver’s seat (42-45).
The guests had a +4 lead in their hands (46-50) at 23’, but exactly at that point, the ‘red & whites’ completely changed their approach of the game. With superb defense, Moustapha Fall winning all the battles in the post and Sasha Vezenkov giving an offensive recital, our team ‘replied’ with a partial 17-2, closing the 3rd quarter at +11 (63-52). Form there on, the game became more of a procedure, with Olympiacos though refusing to step on the breaks (79-58 at 35’).
- Kostas Sloukas was not included in the final cut of the roster, just like Isaiah Canaan, who is not eligible to participate the Greek playoffs.
The quarters: 17-19, 42-45, 63-52, 83-65.
