By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After three consecutive losses following their win in the premiere, Barcelona erupted at Olympiacos 73 – 51 in Palau Blaugrana to improve their EuroLeague record to 2-3.
The Reds’ flawless winning streak was thus broken with a performance poor enough to tie the franchise’s single-game scoring low in recent EuroLeague history.
Barcelona already held moderate control at halftime (32-26) thanks to Kevin Seraphin’s efforts (a game-high 13 points plus four rebounds) but it wasn’t until the mid of the third quarter that it unleashed its full wrath upon its opponents.
With Pierre Oriola (11 points, five rebounds) entering the game’s equation on both ends, the Blaugrana first had an 11-0 run in just two minutes to make the score 45 – 34 and then dominated thanks to a partial 13-2 in the beginning of the fourth period for the 62 – 43.
There was no way out of the mess that Olympiacos was into since coach Giannis Sfairopoulos’ players weren’t allowed to sufficiently move the ball around, lacked exterior threat (2/11 3s) and made one turnover after the other, ultimately finishing with 21. None of Oly’s point guards notched any assist, falling victims to Phil Pressey’s (six points, five dimes) defense.
Only Ioannis Papapetrou scored in double-figures for the visiting squad, notching 11 points. Kostas Papanikolaou had eight points while Nikola Milutinov posted a team-high 16 PIR after four points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal, two blocks and six fouls won.