By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
While he fell shy of comparing his tremendous touch pass to his Serbian compatriot, Nikola Jokic, Nikola Milutinov’s touch pass to Thomas Walkup in the win over Kosner Baskonia in the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Thursday was certainly quite reminiscent of the kind of passes the NBA superstar pulls off.
When asked about that highlight-reel dime, Milutinov remained humble regarding the comparison.
“First of all, nobody is like him,” Milutinov told Eurohoops. “He’s unique. All of us, we can only try to be 1% of him,” Milutinov told Eurohoops. “He’s a unique player. If you do just a small thing and be compared with him, it’s something huge.”
Not sure if Nikola Milutinov or Nikola Jokic. pic.twitter.com/6u3HQelWBH
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) March 19, 2026
The veteran center credited his instinctive chemistry with Thomas Walkup for the play, noting that the connection was built on a single glance rather than practice.
“We saw the way that they were playing defense on our baselines. It was not something that we were practicing, but Thomas is a great point guard, and we understood each other just by looking into each other’s eyes. It was not even saying anything. It was just a look,” he mentioned. “We did a great play, and good for us.”
Milutinov had a pretty solid performance vs. Baskonia with 17 points, six rebounds and two assists. He scored 12 during the first half to help Olympiacos go to the locker room up 41 – 40 against a particularly competitive Basque side.
The Reds had a sluggish showing for the larger part of the game, before pulling away in the final quarter to get the victory. The Serbian big man agreed that the grueling schedule of 7 games over 14 days contributed to their rusty performance.
“Overall, it was not a good game for us, but we had a really difficult stretch of games. We really were playing every two days, and tough games, but the most important thing tonight is the win,” he noted.
“Maybe [fatigue] was an issue, but as I said, sometimes you’re going to play bad, sometimes you’re going to play good, but the most important thing at the end of the day is to win games,” he added.
With Olympiacos currently sitting second in the standings at 22-11, the Serbian center emphasized that the pressure to maintain their position makes every victory vital, regardless of the opponent’s standing.
“They were without the pressure of winning games. We had the pressure to win. This is why I’m saying again that it’s the most important that we get the win tonight, no matter the performance,” he said.
“Lessons that there is no easy game and there is no win in advance in EuroLeague,” added the two-time Greek League champion with Olympiacos and NBA draft pick back in 2015.
Looking ahead to the Round 33 clash at the Roig Arena against Valencia, Milutinov noted that the Reds still have significant room to grow with the postseason looking back at them in the horizon.
“From tonight’s game, you can improve in each part because we have to be honest, it was not one of our best games. If you look only at tonight’s game, we can improve in any part,” he explained.
“The most important thing is just like I said, to get as many wins as we can until the end of the season and try to put ourselves in the best possible situation,” he furthered.
A veteran of 286 EuroLeague appearances, Milutinov is averaging 10.9 points and 7.2 rebounds this season, including a 17-point effort against Baskonia.