By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
With five players scoring in double figures, Olympiacos beat Anadolu Efes 87-72 in Piraeus and made the 1 – 0 in the playoff series.
Vangelis Mantzaris paced the winners with 14 points and 6 rebounds and Erick Green added 13. Team captain Vassilis Spanoulis notched 10 points and 8 assists, while Giorgos Printezis and Nikola Milutinvo had 11 points each.
The latter also had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 rebounds in one of his most versatile outputs in EuroLeague, with Spurs GM RC Buford watching him in “Peace and Friendship” arena.
For Efes, Tyler Honeycutt posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, Thomas Heurtel had 14 points and Jayson Granger 12.
Velimir Perasovic players fell behind 18 – 11 in the first quarter being strangled by the hosts’ strong defense. The Reds put the ball on the low post successfully and barred their opponents from approaching their territory.
Olympiacos never lost control of the game from that point. They closed halftime ahead 42 – 31 and then pumped up their efforts in the third to enter the fourth quarter up 67 – 50. Perimeter shooting and strong pressure on Olympiacos ball handlers allowed efes to make it 70 – 60 but Olympiacos answered swiftly enough to regain control and keep it until the final buzzer.