By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Milutinov notched EuroLeague career-highs in points (23) and PIR (33), leading Olympiacos to an 85 – 80 victory over Baskonia on the road.
It wasn’t just a night of records for Milutinov but also of precious game-winning contribution down the stretch. The Serbian center, who also had 11 rebounds, scored the last four points of Olympiacos, to help his team survive an immense comeback effort by Baskonia from 19 points (47 – 66 near the end of the third period) down.
Despite having lost Shavon Shields and Darrun Hilliard with injuries, Baskonia rallied in the final quarter to make it a one-possession game, 78 – 81 and 80 – 83, mostly thanks to Tornike Shengelia (21 points, four rebounds) but they couldn’t finish what they started. Contrary to most of its fourth-period offenses, Olympiacos reacted with calm in the final minute to keep a distance that allowed them to escape Vitoria with a win for the 2-0 in the season.
“Baskonia was excellent in the last minutes and if the game had been longer, maybe the result would have been different,” Olympiacos coach David Blatt said on Baskonia’s comeback.
Apart from Milutinov, Axel Toupane (11 points, five rebounds), Nigel Williams-Goss (11 points) and Vassilis Spanoulis (11 points, eight assists) had key contribution for Olympiacos in various stages of the game. The latter two also “fed” Milutinov for his crucial baskets in the final minutes.
As Olympiacos’ coach David Blatt said: “It’s great to see your newly-built team come to Vitoria and defeat such a team as Baskonia. I know how good they are, but it is too early to say what we are. Baksonia was excellent in the last minutes and if the game had been longer, maybe the result would have been different. This was our third game in six days, and now we have another in two days.”
For Baskonia, that fell to 1-1, Jayson Granger had 17 points, including a crazy buzzer-beater at the end of the third period that gave his team a psychological boost needed for the comeback attempt.