By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Last season Olympiacos lost by 28 points to Khimki Moscow away for home but this year the Reds returned to Russia with an urge for vengeance.
With many players contributing a piece, Olympiacos began the 2018-2019 EuroLeague season by beating Khimki 87 – 66 while showing a strong sample of David Blatt’s brand of motion basketball.
Two newcomers were the top contributors for Olympiacos. Zach LeDay scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds for a team-high 20 PIR while Sasha Vezenkov had 13 points, four boards, and 19 PIR.
“Very important win for us, especially with the new EuroLeague system. We limited Khimki to 66 points. We have a room for improvement. It’s too soon, and the only thing we know is that we have to play hard,” Vezenkov said in the post-game flash interview.
Alexey Shved was business as usual with 34 points plus six assists for Khimki but his team had few scoring options apart from his action. Especially following their initial 12 – 2 lead.
Olympiacos reacted with a 0 – 11 run to balance the game and then built a double-digit lead at the end of the first half which was capped by this brilliant buzzer beater by Vassilis Spanoulis. The Reds preserved this advantage and then catapulted it in the fourth period. Khimki was unable to react and even when they showed some semblance of a response, their opponents always had an answer.
Spanoulis finished with eight points, seven assists and four rebounds. Giorgos Printezis and Janis Strelnieks added 11 points apiece. Kostas Papanikolaou returned from his injury after losing two official games for the Greek domestic competitions and scored five points.
Only Anthony Gill scored in double figures (13 points, five rebounds) apart from Shved.