By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Sasha Vezenkov had 19 points plus six rebounds and Isaiah Canaan scored 15 out of his 18 points in the third period as Olympiacos Piraeus beat Fenerbahce Beko 79 – 68 in Game 1 of the EuroLeague playoffs. The Greek side was quite potent overall from the perimeter with 16-29.
Canaan’s hot shooting spree was pivotal in giving Olympiacos a decisive push toward the win. After a close first half (37 – 35), the American guard fired one triple after the other, making 4-4 and then delivering another at the end of the third quarter as the Reds took a 63 – 51 advantage.
“This is just one game,” Canaan said. “I give credit to all my teammates for finding me. They know all I got to do is see one go through and anything can happen. For them to keep looking for me after I made a couple, I give them credit. It is just one game, we got another game Friday, and that game is just as important as this one.”
Marko Guduric and Johnathan Motley reacted for Fener which cut that margin to 63 – 58. Once more though, Olympiacos answered with the same currency and Kostas Sloukas made the 70 – 58 halfway through the fourth period.
Shaq McKissic gave the final blows to Fener with a triple for the 73 – 58 and then another for the 76 – 61 as the Peace and Friendship arena erupted in a song of victory.
Motley had 15 points plus seven rebounds while Dyshawn Pierre finished with 13 points, five assists and four rebounds for a Fenerbahce team that was minus injured guard Scottie Wilbekin and big men Devin Booker and Nemanja Bjelica. Guduric posted 12 points, six assists and five boards, carrying several backcourt duties.
McKissic provided Olympiacos with 11 points. “It is just 1-0,” Vezenkov said. “No excitement, no emotions, no feelings. I know it is hard, but it is just 1-0. Fener has great players, great coach, they will come back. I think today we played a really solid defense. I think we need to repeat it even more. To see out mistakes, so we will be prepared for Game 2.”
Game 2 takes place Friday (28/4) in the same arena.
“Congratulations to Olympiacos,” Fener coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “The momentum that Canaan made by hitting consecutive three-pointers, but in general, Olympiacos found open looks, five in a row if I am not mistaken, that we over-helped for no reason. It was not our strategy. It gave them an extra boost. We came back, but not completely back. We have to stay focused, they are such a team that can hurt you in a second.”
Tougher battles are coming
Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas expects an even difficult challenge for his team in Game 2 and is confident that his players will respond accordingly.
“It is always important how many possessions you give, how many second chances they have. In the first half, they had too many,” Bartzokas mentioned, discussing a major difference between the two halves. “We just had to do our job defensively, getting the ball and just playing. Passing the ball, we had a lot of assists in the third quarter. Canaan was great, shooting the ball from a lot of spots, and finally, we managed to control the pace and manage to win by a difference of more than 10 points, which is not easy against such a good team. We will analyze this game tomorrow, but I think Game 2 will be even more difficult. Of course, the first game for the home-court team is under big pressure, because you have to protect whatever you achieved the whole year. But, we are happy we won today, but we need to be very consistent in the second game.”