By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos secured a spot in the Top 4 of the EuroLeague regular season and the homecourt advantage in the playoffs after beating already eliminated Anadolu Efes 89 – 82 at home.
The Reds improved to a 19 – 9 record with this win while their opponents dropped to 6 – 22 and the last spot in the standings.
Nikola Milutinov notched a EuroLeague career-high 20 points plus 8 rebounds for Olympiacos while captain Vassilis Spanoulis added 17 points plus 8 assists and 5 rebounds.
“Kill-Bill” was also the one to shove the dagger in the heart of his opponents with a big 3-point bucket for the 89 – 82 with 20 seconds left to play. Efes had previously made it a one-possession affair, 85 – 82 with less than two minutes remaining, after coming back from a 16-point deficit, 69 – 53 near the end the third period.
Spanoulis was responsible for his team building this lead with a sequence of plays that bore his signature, whether they were points by himself or dimes to his teammates.
Krunoslav Simon had a beautiful all-around game for Efes with 18 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Yet he missed a 3-point shot late with the score 86 – 82, before Spanoulis’ decisive basket from downtown.
Sonny Weems added 14 points and Vladimir Stimac 10 for the Turkish team. Ioannis Papapetrou also had a career-high 17 for the winning squad.
For more EuroLeague news, click here!
Make 
Your Preferred Basketball Source.
Add Eurohoops to Google