A great first quarter for Barça (11-20) did not have continuity in the next three to end up losing 77-70
Mirotic, with 19 points, put up with Barça, although the team arrived very tired in the decisive minutes
Barça saw its streak of five consecutive victories in the Euroleague broken after falling on the Olympiacos court (77-70) in a duel where Barça started very well but ended up giving in to the push of the Greek team, who turned the game around with a Larentzakis who did damage again with four triples (14 points). For Barça, Mirotic could not keep up, despite the 19 points he achieved in Piraeus.
OLY
BAR
LINEUPS
OLYMPIACOS, 77
(11+18+21+27): Thomas Walkup (6), Isaiah Canaan, Sasha Vezenkov (13), Kostas Papanikolaou (8), Mustapha Fall (5) -starting five-, Kostas Sloukas (3), Alec Peters (11). 6), Shaquielle McKissic (16);
BARÇA, 70
(20+7+18+25): Tomas Satoransky (1), Nico Laprovittola (15), Nikola Kalinic (8), Nikola Mirotic (19), Sertaç Sanli (13) -starting five-, Rokas Jokubaitis (2), Cory Higgins (10), Oscar da Silva, Jan Vesely (2) and Àlex Abrines.
REFEREES
Ilija Belosevic (Serbia), Mehdi Difallah (France) and Saso Petek (Slovenia).
INCIDENCES
Match corresponding to the 27th day of the men’s basketball Euroleague played at the Pavilion of Peace and Friendship (Piraeus, Greece).
Barça started in Piraeus with great defensive intensity. With some iron markings to Vezekov and Papanikolau, the start of the duel was Barcelona with a Mirotic that took advantage of balls inside the area. A hopeful start, with a triple included by Sanli that gave Barça the first income (2-9).
Olympiacos couldn’t find comfortable shots against Barça’s defense, the best of the season and allowed Jasikevicius’ team to reach 10 points of income (8-18) before the despair of Bartzokas and a totally unwise Vezenkov 1 of 4).
In a magnificent first quarter (11-20), Barça controlled the Greeks, with Mirotic as the leader despite having made just one 3-pointer in the fourth (1 of 7).
Olympiacos turns it around
Bartzokas decided that it was time to give the alternative to the second unit, with Sloukas in command and McKissic, and the game changed. Jokubaitis gave the maximum blaugrana at the start of the fourth (11-22), but from there, the Catalans collapsed in attack.
A minute’s silence was observed for the victims of the train accident
| FCB
The intensity of the Greeks skyrocketed with a triple by Larentzakis and with Piraeus on fire, Olympiacos endorsed a 12-0 run (23-22) that did a lot of damage to the blaugrana. Higgins did not contribute when he entered the court and it had to be Mirotic (12 points) who led to the minuscule reaction of Barça (24-27).
A triple by McKissic in the last action gave Olympiacos an advantage at halftime (29-27) in an alternative match and with little success from long distance for the Catalans (1 of 13 in triples). The departure after the break could mark the fate of the duel for Barça.
triple clean
All the mistake in the triple in the first half, changed completely in the second. Laprovittola scored two consecutive triples and Kalinic’s first and McKissic and Vezenkov responded to maintain control (39-36).
Kalinic did not have a day inspired by the triple
| FCB
The worst news for Barça is that Vezenkov appeared in attack. Stopping the MVP of February seemed key to taking the victory of Piraeus. Also joining the success from the triple was the former Blaugrana Papanikolau who gave the Greek team the maximum (46-41).
A triple by Sanli, in a good game by the Turk, kept Barça in the game although control passed into the hands of the Greeks who had an advantage at the end of the quarter (50-45).
Olympiacos’ maximum (53-45) was reduced by Barça with two consecutive triples from Laprovittola and Higgins (53-51). The triples returned as protagonists to the duel, with a response from McKissic, who took the lead of the Greek team (56-51). Olympiacos returned to give a break to the scorer (59-51). The azulgranas had to remain calm and match the intensity of the locals if they wanted to win the duel.
Barça stayed alive with triples from Kalinic and Higgins (66-63) at 3:17 from the end. Saras did not move the bench and fatigue began to take its toll. Laprovittola, with two almost consecutive steps, was one of those who began to lose reflexes. A three-pointer from Vezenkov almost finished Barça (70-63) two minutes from the end.
A triple by Larentzakis put the finishing touches on Barça (75-65) who put in will, but it was not enough to surprise Olympiacos (77-70). Now the goal is to win against Fenerbahçe this Friday, another duel that seems very complicated.