By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
This time Kostas Sloukas didn’t need a crazy buzzer beater to be the hero of the game. He had already taken care of business earlier.
Sloukas scored 12 out of his team-high 22 points in the last 12 minutes and dished out six assists as Olympiacos Piraeus beat Fenerbahce Beko 84 – 72 to win in Game 5 of the Euroleague playoffs to win the series 3-2 and advance to the Final Four for a second straight season.
“We fought all year to play this game in front of our great fans. We played a really good game, they read the game excellently. We took what we deserved. I try to do my best, I’ll dedicate this victory to my family”, Sloukas said in the post-game flash interview.
Among the several buckets Sloukas dropped were eight straight points at the end of the third period to put Olympiacos up 65-52 with 10 minutes remaining. His two free throws down the stretch gave the Reds their bigger lead in the match, 78-61 with 3:29 left on the clock.
“Very tough win against a very good team. We had to work like hell. This was one of the toughest series I’ve played. But we showed character and commitment, and know we can celebrate. We love our fans, they support us. They don’t understand it, but their voice really keeps us up”, Kostas Papanikolaou said after dropping a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Fenerbahce led 29 – 31 halfway through the second period thanks to an 0-8 run. That was the last time they led an advantage in the game since Olympiacos responded with 15 unanswered points, eight points of them from Sloukas’ hands. Shaq McKissic (11 points, four rebounds) who was crucial also on the defensive end, was the one to hit a triple for the hosts’ first double-digit lead in the game.
While Tyler Dorsey’s free throws made it 44-33 at halftime, the damage ultimately proved to be more or less already done for Fener since they never managed to recover and approach below a two-possession distance.
“I believe that not many words are needed today. Everybody knows the meaning of this game, and how important was for both teams. Getting back the home-court advantage in Istanbul, we made sure through the practices that we were going to be all together on the same page because the accomplishment was really huge for our team”, Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas added in the post-game press conference.
“And I really believe it was something we deserved. With the way we played all year from early September, we were really stable, consistent with our basketball, and I think nobody doubted us to be in the Final Four. It’s the second one in a row after the rebuilding of our team, which is really notable. It was an amazing atmosphere our fans created the whole season. We brought all the Olympiacos fans on the court or everywhere in Europe. Our fans have to be proud of the fighting and winning spirit of this team”, Bartzokas concluded.
Guduric was not enough
Marko Guduric, in a fiery performances of 26 points on a Game 5 record 8 triples (out of 12), tried to keep Fener in the game. He drained one for the 78 – 64 and Carsen Edwards made it 78 – 66 with 2:40 remaining but it was too late. Sasha Vezenkov scored immediately for 80-66 as the clock was ticking in the hosts’ favor. The MVP favorite had 17 points and five rebounds.
“It was a good journey so far, we are gonna become stronger. It was a hell of a series. They were much better today. Papanikolaou and Walkup opened the game aggressively, and then Sloukas took over. We are gonna grow as individuals and as a group, with new leaders. We’re gonna come back more determined”, Dimitris Itoudis said following his Fener’s loss. This is the first time a team of his is eliminated in the playoffs in his career as head coach.
While Marko Guduric shot great from beyond the arc, the rest of the yellow-and-blue team was disappointing from the long distance, shooting 0/15. The only players who scored in double-digits other than Guduric were Johnathan Motley and Edwards, with 14 and 10 points respectively.