By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
With the duo of Matt Lojeski (18 points) and Erick Green (15 points) firing at will and by silencing its opponents main weapons, Olympiacos beat Crvena Zvezda 73-65 in Piraeus improving its EuroLeague record to 9 – 4.
This was the 8th defeat of the Serbian squad that couldn’t be threatening enough, save for a superb double-double by Ognjen Kuzmic (13 points, 14 rebounds), the scoring, but not so much the creation of Stefan Jovic (16 points, 3 assists – all in the second half) and Marko Guduric‘s (12 points) efforts.
Nikola Milutinov was another player who provided big helps to Olympiacos, finishing with 11 points and 7 rebounds.
After getting off to a 22 – 18 start in the first quarter, Olympiacos extended its potency on both ends of court in the second period to take further control of the game.
On one hand it was the solid perimeter shooting with Lojeski as the main perpetrator and on the other, the excellent defense on Stefan Jovic.
The mastermind of the Serbian team averaged more than 5 assists coming into the game, but Olympiacos managed to keep him at zero dimes in the first twenty minutes of the game. It was a key factor that “cut” the Serbian’s offense in half since they went to the locker rooms with only 34 points in their pockets, while their opponents had dropped 45.
The guests also suffered from bad shooting percentages from the perimeter with key players like Marko Simonovic failing to deliver from downtown.
Olympiacos kept making one stop after the other with the beginning of the third period, forcing Red Star to produce only 5 points in five minutes. Coach Sfairopoulos took a 17-point lead, 55 – 38 which was their biggest in the game.
Lojeski and Green kept firing for the hosts, but Crvena Zvezda managed to cut its deficit to single digits, 69 – 62 with 2 minutes to go, thanks to smart plays by Jovic and Guduric. Still, the ABA champs’ comeback arrived late since Olympiacos was already safe and sound.