By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes is a solid team, but Olympiacos is simply the team to beat right now in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
The Reds defended their home court by getting the 92-89 win, keeping the top spot of the standings with a 17-7 record.
Sasha Vezenkov (26 p.) and Evan Fournier (20 p.) couldn’t be denied, while Nikola Milutinov added 11 points and Nigel Williams-Goss added nine, including the two most crucial free throws of the night.
Vezenkov scored 20 of his points in the second half and as he said after the final buzzer: “It was a really important game for us, we lost the previous game (to Fenerbahce) and we needed to bounce back. For 35 minutes we played great and in the end we let them come back, it was a little bit of gambling in the end, going to the free-throw line, but EuroLeague is very unpredictable and we have to keep walking”.
Efes got 21 points from Elijah Bryant and 12 from Jordan Nwora and PJ Dozier which were not enough.
The former back-to-back champions have a modest 11-13 record and have to fight for a spot in the post-season, having a lot of ground to cover. Shane Larkin who was doubtful before the game, played for 21 minutes but he was not himself with just three points and four assists.
On the other side, Olympiacos is still missing Thomas Walkup, Luka Vildoza was injured during the game and Tyler Dorsey wasn’t used in the second half after refusing to give his hand to the coach while getting substituted.
Olympiacos sizzling, Efes fighting until the end
Olympiacos had a stellar first quarter, building a 29-14 lead with Evan Fournier already scoring 10 points.
However, the home side relaxed more than expected in the second, giving the chance to Efes to trim the lead to five (45-40) after a three by Jordan Nwora who had 12 points after the first two periods.
Olympiacos closed the first half leading by seven (47-40) and Efes opened the third period with a 4-0 run to make it a three-point game (47-44).
With the guests showing their teeth, the Reds took the game under control again with a 9-2 run (56-46) with Fournier and Vezenkov sizzling.
Olympiacos led by 11 (64-53) but Efes made another run to close the gap again to five (64-59) with Bryant scoring four points in the 6-0 run. Still, the Reds created distance again entering the last quarter with a 13-point advantage (74-61).
The hose side pushed the lead to 18 (81-63) and the game was seemingly over. Still, Efes tried to come back and made it a three-point game (90-87) after two threes by PJ Dozier and Elijah Bryant with 24 seconds left.
Nigel Williams-Goss was fouled, he made two free throws (92-87), Rodrigue Beaubois missed and Olympiacos sealed the deal, as Dozier just managed to trim the final point difference almost at the buzzer.