By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Even Fournier with 22 points and Sasha Vezenkov with 20 created an admirable one-two punch and Olympiacos knocked out Panathinaikos on the road.
The Reds got the 94-89 win at OAKA and the two teams are now tied with a 5-3 record in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
“I missed this derby so much”, said Vezenkov after the game, and indeed it was a night to remember, especially in the second half.
Nikola Milutinov with 12 points and Nigel Williams-Goss with 13 also made things happen for Olympiacos, while Thomas Walkup dissed 11 assists.
“The gameplan from the coach was great, trying to control the pace and we executed it with no rush”, explained Fournier, “basically we did what we do in practice every day”.
Kendrick Nunn scored 20 points for the losing side, while Juancho Hernangomez and Mathias Lessort added 13 points each, but it was not enough.
Decided by details
Olympiacos had a great start, leading early by 10 (11-1) and closing the first period up by five (20-15). The Reds pushed the lead to 13 (30-17) with a 10-2 run and held on almost until the end of the first half.
With the score 38-25, Panathinaikos finally reacted with an 8-0 run (38-33) and the halftime score was 41-33 after a goal foul by Vezenkov.
Things changed at the start of the second half. Panathinaikos made it a two-point game (46-44) with an 11-5 run, Lessort had three thunderous dunks and the Greens trimmed the lead to one (50-49).
Still with Vezenkov reaching the 20-point mark, Olympiacos held on for a 71-66 lead at the end of the third and it was obvious that everything would be decided on details.
Olympiacos managed to get some distance (79-71), but Panathinaikos tied the score at 81 with four minutes left.
Kostas Sloukas with 2/2 free throws gave the Greens the first lead in the game (83-82) and Evan Fournier answered back with a big three (85-83).
Lessort tied the score with two free throws (85-85) and Fournier made one more big shot (87-85). That proved to be the end of it and the start of a 7-0 run which ended with one more big three by the French star (92-85) and the game was over.
Photo credit: EuroLeague