By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The first victory in the new era of Euroleague is a fact for Olympiacos. With an excellent effort on defense and by reading exactly what their opponents gave them on the other end, the Reds smashed Anadolu Efes 88-63 in front of their fans in Piraeus.
With Vassilis Spanoulis weaving his team’s offense beautifuly by either scoring (17 points) or creating (9 assists), Giorgos Printezis and Matt Lojeski getting buckets (14 each), Olympiacos was a force to be reckoned with. Nikola Milutinov also had a deep impact in the match with 8 points, 7 assists and plenty smart plays on both ends.
Cedi Osman registered a new Euroleague career high with 22 points and DeShaun Thomas with Derrick Brown added 10 points apiece for Anadolu Efes.
Olympiacos’ offense worked to a near perfection during the first quarter when Vassilis Spanoulis dropped one dime after the other (7 assists in 10 minutes) and Giorgos Printezis scored at will (14 points). Meanwhile, Efes got off to a rough start, sinking its second basket after six minutes of action. The two teams’ performance was, more or less, perfectly portrayed in the 28 – 16 written on the boxscore after 10 minutes.
The entrance of Thomas Heurtel and Cedi Osman improved Efes’ offensive game, but most of their efforts to approach the paint were deflected by their opponents’ defense. At the same time, Matt Lojeski and Erick Green’s firepower gave the Reds their biggest lead in the game by then, 38 – 19. Efes’ reaction arrived through the raving action of Osman who looked almost unstoppable,
Velimir Perasovic began the third quarter with DeShaun Thomas and Derick Brown compiling his team’s frontline, something which made Efes much faster on both ends and allowed the Turkish team to further cut the deficit into six points. The answer by Olympiacos came via who else… Spanoulis who carried his team on his back to expand the lead into double-digit numbers, 57 – 43. Yet Jayson Granger managed to keep his team a bit closer, 62 – 53 at the end of the third quarter.
We had a game indeed in “Peace and Friendship” arena, but not for long. With Milutinov making a more than fine job, Olympiacos entered the final period with a 6 – 0 run. Efes didn’t react properly and soon the Reds made it a 20 -point game, thanks to a 12 – 0 run. The rest was history, as Olympiacos ultimately cruised to victory, also providing a show near the end.