What if he’s behind the score 35′ in a really bad game. Olympiakos broke second in Barcelona, beating Barcelona 63-59 and will be in the EuroLeague Final Four for the third time in a row, where they will face Real Madrid in the semifinals.
In fact, the Red and Whites became the second team in the competition’s history to be away from home in Game 5 within a short period of time.
The game was a derby from start to finish. The Catalans held the lead for 3.5 stints, but in the most important part of the race, McKissick, Milutinov and Papanikolaou did what they had to do to give them the win and a big qualification in F4.
Shaquille McKissick led the way for the winners with 12 points, while Kostas Papanikolaou added 11 and Nikola Miludinov 10 with 10 rebounds. On the other hand, Nicolas Laprovitola had 17 points and Alex Abrines had 13 points.
Both teams started the game very nervous, which was evident when the first basket went in after two minutes. Only Nicolas Laprovitola was on pace, 6′ scoring eight points for Barcelona in an 8-2 rout. The situation did not improve after that as defeat continued on both sides. So the first leg ended with “Blaugrana” thanks to +3 for 12-9!
Barcelona’s second period started the opposite way with Willy Hernangometh and Parker finding the score and Olympiakos Miludinov responded as a pillar to level the game, he didn’t score much but he did everything. As a result, Pires got two points closer at 25-23 in the 18th minute. So in the final of the first half, the Catalan team led by two points, 27-25.
At the beginning of the third period, Barcelona managed to reach +8 with 38-30 at 25′, showing that they control the game. Olympiakos responded and got closer to 38-36 at the 26′ mark. However, the low scores persisted as the players struggled unabated. So the third quarter ended in a complete tie with the light board reading 40-40!
Roger Grimau’s men +3 (45-42) in the 32′, Willy Hernangometh was the protagonist. Elsewhere, Olympiakos went on a 7-2 run to get important points from Megsic and lead for the first time in the match with 49-47 at 35′. The American guard/forward was unstoppable and combined with Papanicola in the 38th minute to send the Red and Whites up +8 (57-49). Barcelona came close at 59-56, but Pires stayed calm and managed to win the final 63-59.
Decades: 12-9, 27-25, 40-40, 59-63
Barcelona (Grimeau): Da Silva, Wesley 6 (4 turnovers), Rubio 6 (4 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, 2 turnovers), Kalinic (0/7 shooting), Zadoranski 2 (2/2 shots, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals) .
Olympiakos (Bartzokas): Walkup 3 (1/6 3-pointers), Williams-Goss 8 (4 assists, 6 turnovers), Wright 2, Cannon 6 (1/7 shots, 4/5 shots), Laurentzakis, Fall (0/4 shots, 5 rebounds), Papanicolaou 11 (3/6 three-pointers), Peters 6, Petrusev 5 (1/4 two-pointers, 3/4 shots), Milutinov 10 (10 rebounds), McKissick 12 (2).
Series results
Game 1: Barcelona – Olympiakos 75-77
Game 2: Barcelona – Olympiakos 77-69
Game 3: Olympiakos – Barcelona 80-82 (Overtime)
Game 4: Olympiakos – Barcelona 92-58
Game 5: Barcelona – Olympiakos 59-63
