A big win to start the new year!
Olympiacos began 2025 with a win, beating Zalgiris 92-85 in Kaunas, for the 19th round of the Euroleague.
The 'red & whites' did not start the game well. Lacking clear thinking offense wise, as well as the required concentration in defense, they trailed the score early on (10-4, 4'). Thomas Walkup offered some score (18-10, 7'), while two back-to-back threes by Kostas Papanikolaou and Sasha Vezenkov made for a 2-point game (18-16), before the first quarter ending at 22-18. The second quarter began with a stolen ball that led to dunking in the fast-break (Shaquille McKissic, 22-20). The American player took center stage, offering lots of energy to our team's game (34-30, 14'). Ineffecient defense and lost rebounds though, gave the hosts the opportunity to once again up the difference to double digits (44-32, 17'). At that point, Nigel Williams-Goss and Evan Fournier took over, temporarily shrinking the margin (44-40, 28'), for Trinchieri's team to reply with an 8-0 of their own, again striking from the long range (11/17 3p.), with half-time ending at 52-40.
The second half began with our team upping its defensive effort, which led to better choices in offense and the change of the game's outlook. Our team dropped the margin to single digits, with Sasha Vezenkov in a leading role (56-48, 22'), while also found score from Moustapha Fall (58-53, 24'). Evan Fournier scored 2 threes to make for a 1-point game (62-61, 26'), with defense remaining really intense up until the end of the quarter and not allowing Zalgiris to respond (71-67). The fourth quarter began with the same focus on defense and two successive threes by Sasha Vezenkov and Shaquielle McKissic that gave the guests the lead (71-73, 32'). Olympiacos did not receive score in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter in the Zalgirio Arena, patiently 'building' an offensive streak (71-80, 35'). A hige three by Thomas Walkup sent the difference to 9p. (78-87, 37'), but a quick 5-0 by Zalgiris (83-87) turned the last 90'' into a derby. Our defense was present during the final push by the hosts for the win, while the buzzer-beating 3-pointer by McKissic shaped the final 85-92 score, that marked the first road win for our team in the new year.
The quarters: 22-18, 52-40, 71-67, 85-92
