By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos‘ players entered the game against Laboral Kutxa with their backs against the wall and their burning desire for a positive result was translated on court. The Reds won the game 82 – 68 thanks to an immense defensive effort that brought plenty of scoring opportunities and many runs which allowed the Greek team to lead from wire to wire.
The captains of the Greek team’s vanguard did more than their part for Olympiacos‘ victory. Vasssilis Spanoulis had 14 points and 8 assists, while Giorgos Printezis finished the match with 17 points and 5 rebounds. For Baskonia, Ioannis Bourousis was once again the best among his teammates with 19 points and 7 rebounds.
Laboral Kutxa gained an edge of 6 points after 3 minutes of action, making the score 3- 9, but consecutive baskets by Giorgos Printezis tied the match quickly. Olympiacos‘ power forward was unstoppable in every single play, making his points eleventh and the score 15 – 9 a little before the end of the period. Baskonia‘s offensive problems were immediately solved with the entrance of Giannis Bourousis as the Greek center enhanced his team’s game. The overall rhythm of the game had also been significantly improved and the first quarter ended with the score being 19 – 16.
While Olympiacos started the second quarter in quite the aggressive manner, the guests took advantage of a great deal of offensive rebounds and some turnovers made by their opponents in order to score more and tie the match 25 – 25, with a three-pointer by Jaka Blazic. Immediately, coach Sfairopoulos called a time-out which proved to be really beneficial. The Reds started an incredible effort that allowed them to build a 16 – 0 run with the tools of high pressure, aggressive defense and improved rebounding thanks to Oly newcomer Hakim Warrick. Bourousis interrupted the hosts’ streak but, Olympiacos has taken a good advantage at the end of the first half, being ahead of Baskonia 44 – 30.
After five sloppy minutes into the second half the two teams have only scored 8 points each and the halftime difference stayed the same. Then Spanoulis took action dropping two consecutive baskets to make the score 56 – 38, for Olympiacos’ biggest difference in the game by then. Although Blazic responded at once from behind the arc, the Reds once again started an all-out war against their opponents. It was a decisive moment for the final outcome, since coach Sfairopoulos players showed that they were not about to let their big lead slip by their hands
Even though Olympiacos got a 20 points advantage, Laboral Kutxa didn’t give up. The Basques began their counterattack, starting to find many big shots that reduced the deficit to eight, 73 – 65 with 2 minutes to go. But their opponents – and Vassilis Spanoulis, plus Othello Hunter in particular – stayed calm, accomplishing all the necessary things for the eventual victory.