By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The unit of Zeljko Obradovic was simply impressive on the way to the 90-75 win, got a 22-point lead and Olympiacos simply couldn’t keep up.
Fenerbahce got a 40-28 halftime lead, that peaked at 64-42 and the best the Reds could do was to momentarily make it a nine-point game (72-63) at the start of the last period.
Erick Green with 17 points (4/4 3p.) led a balanced offensive effort, Nikola Kalinic scored 16 and Bobby Dixon added 13 and also dished 10 assists. Kostas Sloukas with 12 points was the fourth player of Fenerbahce in double digits.
Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic singled out the performance of Dixon: “I don’t like to mention names, but I want to talk about Bobby Dixon. He had 10 assists, he played for the team. The most important thing is the team. All the players who entered the court also contributed something. Vesely had a knee injury, he had just one practice and he always said he wanted to be with the team. I thank him for his sacrifice“.
Olympiacos coach David Blatt added in a light mood: “We need to stop playing against former Olympiacos players. It’s like they’re coming back and biting us in the ass. Erick Green didn’t miss any shot at all. It wasn’t a good evening for us. We should go home, fix our wounds and get back together”.
The really impressive numbers of the night were the 68,6% efficiency of the winners in two-pointers (24/35), the 56,3% in trees (9/16) and the fact that they didn’t miss a free throw (15/15).
It’s obvious that Fenerbahce was clicking on offense but on the other hand, Olympiacos’ defense was lackluster.
Janis Timma was the top scorer of the losing side with 14 points and Janis Strelnieks finished the night 13. Still, no player of Olympiacos was a real factor in the game, while Giorgos Printezis finished the game without scoring for the first time after 27 months.
On top of their great shooting night, the hosts also had nine steals, a great number compared to the three of Olympiacos.
Photo credit: EuroLeague