By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Although they fell in the Greek League derby against Panathinaikos, Olympiacos bounced back in the best way possible, with a 93-72 road win against Olimpia Milano in Euroleague.
Olympiacos had an upper hand from the very start and was already up in double-digits (30-18) early on. The Italian did recover (33-33) but only for a short while, as the winning side’s crucial 12-0 run in the second quarter broke the hosts, who couldn’t get back to a single-digit margin until the very end.
Giannoulis Larentzakis scored 18 points for the victors followed by Tyler Dorsey with 14 and Sasha Vezenkov with 12 points.
“It is a very important win on the road. But from tomorrow, we forget about this win because the EuroLeague is really tough. I think that when the team is working in a good direction, everybody can be involved in our offensive game. We had a lot of assists today. We had a lot of creativity, so I really believe in our players. We have talented players. We only need to play together,” Larentzakis said after the game.
Dorsey and Larentzakis banked in 9 of Olympiacos‘s 18 three-pointers which were the main force behind their winning run and mark a club record in Euroleague. The previous record was the 16 threes Olympiaocs scored against Baskonia in 2016.
Additionally, the 93 points scored is a season-high for Olympiacos and it’s the second straight game the team has scored 90+ points. This was also the first road win for the Reds this season in Euroleague.
On the opposing side, Shavon Shields was outstanding with game-high 26 points while Luigi Datome added 12.
After 12 rounds, Olympiacos holds the third spot in the standings with an 8-4 record. Olimpia Milano and Zenit Saint Petersburg follow at the 4th and 5th spot with the same record.
A complete team effort
Coach Georgios Bartzokas made sure to praise his whole team and their defensive performance as well, not to be forgotten amidst to rain of three-pointers.
“I would like to give credit to our players and also to our fans that came here to support us. It was a team effort, completely, today because we had a great offensive performance in the first half and a very good defensive performance, in my opinion, in the second half. We controlled the pace of the game, which is always very important playing against Milan,” he said and added.
“It is a very important win on the road. But from tomorrow, we forget about this win because the EuroLeague is really tough. I think that when the team is working in a good direction, everybody can be involved in our offensive game. We had a lot of assists today. We had a lot of creativity, so I really believe in our players. We have talented players. We only need to play together.”