By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Tyler Dorsey scored 16 out of his game-hig-tying 18 points in the second half as Olympiacos Piraeus defeated AS Monaco 86 – 65 to retain a spotless record at home after six EuroLeague games in the Peace and Friendship arena.
Dorsey dropped seven of his points during a 9-0 run by Olympiacos in the mid of the third period that put his team up 51 – 43. Not only did the Greek side never look back after taking the lead for the first time in the game but went on to further increase their advantage to turn the whole affair into a rout down the stretch.
“You always have to continue,” Dorsey said. “It’s the energy. No matter how it looks in the first half, it’s a two-half game. That [energy] is what we continued to do throughout the game.” He and his teammates allowed just 38 points by Monaco in 30 minutes, after the visiting side’s initial 17 – 27 storm in the first period.
Livio Jean-Charles had 18 points as well, providing 10 of them in the final five minutes as Olympiacos was expanding its lead beyond 20 points. Sasha Vezenkov provided all of his 10 points in the third quarter to help the Reds establish their hold. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Monaco was shut down after dominating the first quarter and then leading up by 12 early in the second period. Olympiacos eliminated its opponents’ lethal transition offense following the first quarter to cut the deficit to 35 – 38 at halftime before completely imposing its rhythm after the break.
Alpha Diallo (12 points), Donta Hall (11 points, nine rebounds) and Danilo Andjusic (11 points on 3-12 shots) scored in double figures from Monaco. Mike James had eight assists but shot 2-11 from the field in a gym he’s more than familiar with, also from his stint with Olympiacos’ archrival Panathinaikos.
“In the second half, our leaders shot with terrible percentages,” Monaco coach Zvedan Mitrovic said.
The start of the game was almost dreamy for Monaco that scored the ball fluidly to produce 29 points in 12 minutes. Everything turned upside down when Olympiacos powered up its defense to a “perfect” degree as Mitrovic commented.
“Amazing, aggressive, clean, without contacts or fouls,” Mitrovic said on Olympiacos’ defense. In the end, Monaco finished with 35.6 percent on 2-pointers and 36.4 percent on triples, along with 16 turnovers.
It was the first loss after two straight wins for Monaco that is now 4-4.
Thomas Walkup added 11 points for Olympiacos while providing a key defensive contribution in the second period when his team laid the foundations for the win. Kostas Papanikolaou also scored 11.
86 points with just 28 percent on threes
Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas was satisfied with a lot of things from his team’s game vs. Monaco but emphasized on two aspects: The powerful defensive effort after the first period and the offensive efficiency despite a poor shooting night from long range.
“It’s obvious that our defensive approach for three quarters was fantastic,” Bartzokas said. “It was amazing. And although we had a bad shooting day – we missed a lot of free throws; we missed a lot of open shots – through our defensive approach, we won this game. It’s a win that we really appreciate. You know that Monaco has great talent and our defense was very solid for three quarters. It’s just one win. No matter where you play, you need to be serious and consistent. So I am happy about this.”
Bartzokas also talked about newly signed forward Quincy Acy. The former NBA forward is returning to EuroLeague after his 2019-2020 stint with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“I wanted Quincy Acy, specifically,” Bartzokas said. “Even if he was a playmaker, we would sign him as playmaker. He creates team camaraderie with the way he plays and defends. He’s a team player who sacrifices his own game for others”