Βy Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
With five players scoring in double figures, Olympiacos Piraeus beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 88 – 80 at home and improved its EuroLeague regular season record to 3-1.
This was the third loss in four matches for Maccabi that had to compete vs. the Reds minus the team’s top scorer and passer Scottie Wilbekin and also injured Jeremy Pargo.
Despite Wilbekin’s absence, Maccabi entered the game locked and loaded, taking an 11 – 18 lead seven minutes into the game thanks to Johnny O’ Bryant and Deandre Kane doing damage. The entrance of Sasha Vezenkov had provided a beneficial impact for Olympiacos on both ends and when Vassilis Spanoulis entered the offensive equation with consecutive buckets plus assists, the Reds grabbed a 41 – 32 advantage and then closed halftime up 45 – 37.
As coach David Blatt admitted: “We didn’t start aggressively on defense and gave up 15 points in the first five minutes. We couldn’t afford to allow ourselves to play that way. We picked it up and it’s a good job we did because Maccabi is a very good team. I’m proud of our guys because it was an important win for us.”
The hosts took it from where they left it in the third period with Spanoulis making it 54 – 39, two minutes into the second half. Kane and Tarik Black kept the “Yellows” in the game, cutting their deficit to single digits. A timeout by David Blatt with the score 61 – 55 helped Olympiacos regain control though.
Although Olympiacos once again took a 15-point lead, 75 – 60 three minutes into the fourth period, Maccabi refused to give up and chewed bits and pieces of this margin. Axel Toupane then dropped a pair of 3-pointers to keep his team at a more than safe distance until the final buzzer.
Olympiacos captain Vassilis Spanoulis posted team-highs 16 points plus five assists while Axel Toupane had 15 points. Nigel Williams-Goss scored 14, Giorgos Printezis 13 and Zach LeDay 12. Sasha Vezenkov notched seven points plus eight rebounds and had some notable contribution on offense and defense, where he provided some strong defensive helps when needed.
Deandre Kane scored 22 points and dished out six assists for Maccabi. Johnny O’ Bryant, Michael Roll and John Dibartolomeo had 12 points apiece.