By Yiannis Bouranis/ info@eurohoops.net
With a dominant second quarter (25-12), Olympiacos decimated Barcelona 74-62 at home in top 16’s opening game. For the winners, Vassilis Spanoulis had 11 points and nine assists, with Othello Hunter adding 10 points and five boards. On the other hand, Ante Tomic and Tomas Satoransky scored 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the losing squad, which played very badly offensively.
In the beginning, both squads were playing great defence and, consequently, no team could take a significant advantage (5-9, 10-12), with the first quarter ending in a draw (14-14). Later, Shawn James scored six straight points (20-14), but the visitors responded and regained the lead (20-21), behind a 7-0 run of their own.
Since then, though, the hosts took over. The Reds executed perfectly on both ends of the floor and took control of the game (30-24), as Giannis Sfairopoulos’ players outscored their opponents 25-12 in the second quarter. As a result, they earned a double-digit advantage (39-26) after 20 minutes in the game, with Daniel Hackett hitting a big three-pointer at the buzzer.
In the second half, things didn’t change much. The Greeks were easily retaining their lead (52-34), as Barcelona was ineffective on both ends of the floor, with the third quarter ending with Olympiacos in front by 16 (56-40). In the last quarter, the Reds continued to be unstoppable (61-42, 64-47, 74-59) and claimed a big victory at home, despite the Spaniards’ late effort to make a big come-back (68-58).