By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos Piraeus delivered its most dominant performance in the 2023-24 EuroLeague so far to rout Anadolu Efes 75 – 57 at home and improve to 3-2.
In total contrast, the Turkish side registered its lowest-scoring output this season, dropping to 2-3 in the process.
Kostas Papanikolaou had 14 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for Olympiacos while Nigel Williams-Goss also had the same number of points and boards.
Alec Peters dropped 12 points, Isaiah Canaan scored 11 and Thomas Walkup produced seven rebounds and six assists to go with his four points.
In a disappointing night for Efes, Elijah Bryant was the only player in double figures with 10 points.
Shane Larkin, Will Clyburn, and Rodrigue Beaubois, the teams’ veteran stars, combined for eight points with the latter being scoreless. Clyburn grabbed nine boards but finished with 2-10 from the field.
Olympiacos basically set the foundations for the win thanks to a 28 – 10 third-quarter performance to enter the final period up 61 – 43. The Reds preserved their advantage going ahead even by 75 – 50 down the stretch.
Olympiacos coach Giorgos Bartzokas stated the obvious: “It was a very serious performance from our team, we were focused decisively on Larkin, Beaubois, and Thompson, all those great players on the backcourt, so they scored just 57 points”.
Efes coach Erdem Can added after the game: “Offensively we were really bad. The decisions that we made, besides the open looks that we missed at the crucial moments and the soft way we played, decided the result. We will try to focus and get better”.
A familiar face in the game
Sarp Ataman, the son of former Anadolu Efes coach Ergin Ataman who is currently coaching Panathinaikos in Greece, also attended the game wearing a t-shirt of the team which his father led to back-to-back titles.
A familiar face to European fans, since he accompanied coach Ataman during the Final Fours, Sarp Ataman had a great chance to scout live Olympiacos, as the two arch-rivals are facing each other on Monday for the Greek league.
Ataman Junior watching the game Olympiacos vs Anadolu Efes for old times’ sake #EuroLeague pic.twitter.com/S2rPTvUBoZ
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) October 26, 2023