A professional win and now a double - game Euroleague week
Olympiacos bested Karditsa 93-72 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium for the 14th day of the Basket League and is now focusing on the double-game Euroleague week with games against Baskonia and Real Madrid.
Our team began the game at a slow tempo (4-4, 2'), shooting poorly from the long range and finding it hard to get into rhythm (7-12, 4'). After tightening the defense, a partial 9-0 gave us the lead (16-12, 8'), with Nikola Milutinov taking center stage during that time. With 32'' on the clock, Mitrou-Long's assist to the Serbian center led to an impressive dunk and the first quarter ended at 20-17. In the second quarter, coach Bartzokas used an extended rotation and hence our team brought more energy to the floor. A stolen ball by Tyler Dorsey and a finisher also by him in the open court made the score 34-18 (12'), while Giannoulis Larentzakis scored the second Olympiacos' three for the 31-25. Olympiacos resumed control of the game focusing on his defensive duties and moving the ball with patience in the offense. Another assist by Mitrou Long, this time to Tyler Dorsey, led to a +9 (36-27. 18'), with half-time ending at 43-34.
In the third quarter, Luca Vildoza and Evan Fournier facilitated for Nikola Milutinov who two big dunks (52-38 and 54-41, 33'), while threes by Sasha Vezenkov, Evan Fournier and Williams-Goss gave a 20-point lead to our team (65-45, 27'), that had complete control of the game. In the last quarter, with the foundation for the win already set, our team continued striking from the long rangte - with Larentzakis and Dorsey making the score 82-55 at 32' - and offering a good show for the fans that came to the arena. With 2:29'' for the end of the game and under loud applause by the fans, the 18-year old Thodoris Pavlopoulos stepped on the floor making his professional debut with our team and getting to score his first points with a three that made the score 93-69, with everyone in the bench wildly celebrating him up until the final call of the game (93-72).
The quarters: 20-17, 43-34, 72-52, 93-72
