Olympiacos took another small step towards glory, from its fourth continental crown ten years after the last, in 2013 against Madrid. First, they had advanced from the leadership of the regular phase to the four chosen, after winning a fifth round against Fenerbahçe, and now, to the final. With a comfortable score (76-62) in an uncomfortable duel, which had him down 12 at halftime (29-41) stirred by the swell of a sea of doubts and only, when he saw himself capsize, did he react. A great comeback, imperial, for the annals of the Euroleague with a 27-2 in the third quarter that dynamited the pulse. The biggest difference ever in any quarter in a Final Four (+21 for Madrid against Fenerbahçe in 2015 was the previous record) and the lowest forced score against the enemy (5 points from Panathinaikos against CSKA in the 2012 semifinal, as reported by Óscar Cuesta). Three large types by size, character and quality, the MVP Vezenkov (9 of his 19 points in overtaking), Papanikolaou (8 of his 15) and the 2.18 Moustapha Fall (5 of his 12), they put together the response with Walkup assisting and in the quartermaster. To the final with a record.
In this sport we talk a lot about curses, which are nothing more than heavy loads that grip the teams. That extreme pressure was transmitted by Olympiacos after the initial jump, the best of the regular phase forced to play the final, we would see if we could win it. And more if the rival was a rookie in the Final Four, where, since Baskonia in 2005, no one has jumped the wall of the semifinals again. A type of intimidation that is not new in this decisive round, because since the current format of all against all The first has never been champion.
AS Monaco also had a cheat, a club in its second year at this level (last year it lost in the fifth round of the playoff against Olympiacos), which has matured (not yet enough) and has talent. The trio Mike James, Elie Okobo and Jordan Loyd is difficult to contain in streakno matter how ferocious ogre you are. The three shorties accumulated 29 of the 41 goals for Sasa Obradovic’s men at halftime, when they usually average 42 overall per game. Okobo was slow to see the hoop, although before doing so he had distributed five assists. The Principality’s defense was fierce and he held the rebound. Those of Bartozkas had a sad 29 goals, but with 9 assists. The problem was his horrible shooting percentages, traced from two and three (4 of 12, 33%), of those who rub their eyes, and a very weak 50% in free throws (9 of 18).
They entered the locker room 12 down (29-41) and when they saw him lost they let go, goodbye pressure. The start of the third quarter had them doing a wheelie to a wheel for four minutes to build a partial of 14-0. A section in which they only missed one launch and which placed them where they thought they were going to be before the initial jump, in command. The onslaught stretched until the end of the third quarter, a 27-2 in those ten minutes for the Final Four anthologyrecord, a devastating setback with Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Fall carrying everything and Larentzakis finishing off with a triple to close the act. Great job behind Walkup, although the arbitration permissiveness in the contacts was very high and that hurt Cinderella. Obradovic had returned Okobo to the track, when the streak against him had exceeded double digits, to dispose of his three tenors… The bleeding, however, was unstoppable, many Monegasque possessions were cut short by the 24-second horn.
The last period did not get out of control, Olympiacos had grabbed their prey and was not going to let go. The Greek fans roared, now they were sweating with everything, they were no longer cold sweats against an opponent who ended up in a helpless I want and I can’t, unable to re-engage. Olympiacos, the leader, will fight for the title this Sunday against Real Madrid, the fourth final between the two. Let’s see.
| 14 Sasha Vezenkov |
| 16 Kostas Papanikolaou |
| 10 Moustapha Fall |
| 3 Isaiah Canaan |
| 0 Thomas Walkup |
| eleven kostas sloukas |
| 77 Shaquielle McKissic |
| 5 Giannoulis Larentzakis |
| twenty-one Joel Bolomboy |
| 28 Tarik Black |
| 25 Alec Peters |
| 4 Michalis Lountzis |
| Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Sasha Vezenkov | 35 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3/4 | 5/8 | 2/6 | 2 | 3 | 19 | |
| 16 Kostas Papanikolaou | 30 | fifteen | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 5 | 1 | twenty-one | |
| 10 Moustapha Fall | 27 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2/5 | 5/6 | 0/0 | 5 | 3 | 18 | |
| 3 Isaiah Canaan | 19 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0/2 | 2/2 | 1/3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 0 Thomas Walkup | 18 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| eleven kostas sloukas | 23 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7/8 | 1/3 | 0/1 | 5 | 2 | eleven | |
| 77 Shaquielle McKissic | 17 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/3 | 1/1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 5 Giannoulis Larentzakis | 9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 1/3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| twenty-one Joel Bolomboy | 6 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 28 Tarik Black | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 25 Alec Peters | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 4 Michalis Lountzis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | |
| 3 jordan loyd |
| 10 John Brown |
| 55 Mike James |
| twenty Donatas Montiejunas |
| 24 Yakuba Ouattara |
| 0 Elie Okobo |
| eleven Alpha Diallo |
| Four. Five Donta Hall |
| 1 Chima Moneke |
| 32 Matthew Strazel |
| 4 jaron blossomgame |
| 5 Yoan Makoundou |
| Min | pts | RT | RO | DR | Ast | Per | rec | Tap | T1 | T2 | T3 | FR | CF | Val | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 jordan loyd | 31 | eleven | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4/5 | 23 | 1/6 | 7 | 4 | fifteen | |
| 10 John Brown | 30 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 55 Mike James | 28 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7/7 | 2/7 | 2/7 | 4 | 1 | 13 | |
| twenty Donatas Montiejunas | twenty-one | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1/2 | 3/6 | 0/2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 24 Yakuba Ouattara | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | -2 | |
| 0 Elie Okobo | 27 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5/8 | 3/7 | 2/6 | 5 | 3 | 14 | |
| eleven Alpha Diallo | 22 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| Four. Five Donta Hall | 18 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| 1 Chima Moneke | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/1 | 0 | 3 | -1 | |
| 32 Matthew Strazel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 jaron blossomgame | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 Yoan Makoundou | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |