Monaco loses to Olympiakos for its first Euroleague play-off match
With their three European crowns (1997, 2012 and 2013), Olympiakos welcomes Monaco to the Euroleague play-offs in its own way. In a packed Hall of Peace and Friendship, the Greek club stifled the Roca Team (71-54) on Wednesday evening in match 1 of the quarter-final between the two teams.
Tuesday afternoon, Sasa Obradovic and his men flew to Piraeus on a nice dynamic: seven wins in eight games to close the regular season. But the best attack in the Euroleague (84 points on average) on a known day without Greece, three weeks after beating the same opponent on the Rock (92-72).
White-hot by the tribute paid to legend Vassilis Spanoulis before kick-off, Olympiakos took a quarter to settle. Monaco took the opportunity to take a small advantage (8-15, 10th), on an award-winning shot from Paris Lee a few seconds from the buzzer. The last ray of sunshine for the attack on the Rock in the first half.
The entry of Shaquielle McKissic and the return of Thomas Walkup confused the Monegasque ball carriers, Mike James in the lead, forced to take very difficult shots. Two long shots from McKissic (12 points) gave the advantage for good to Olympiakos (26-22, 16th) who could count on the impact of their two Frenchmen: Moustapha Fall (4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Livio Jean-Charles (6 points, 7 rebounds).
Match 2 on Friday in Greece
After the break, his compatriot Thomas Walkup (11 points, 4 interceptions) took over by piercing the net seven meters then with a dunk on the head of Mike James from whom he had just stolen the ball (44-30, 25th ). On his bench, Sasa Obradovic has long sought the right five to find a little breath in attack. The Serbian coach found it at the end of the last quarter with the impact of Donta Hall (10 points, 6 rebounds). Too late to reverse the trend.
With their veterans Giorgios Printezis and Kostas Sloukas in the lead, Olympiakos had regained their long-distance skill to sail towards a quiet victory in this first match of the quarter-finals. ” We have to control our emotions. This match showed us that you have to attack with a plan “, reacted Sasa Obradovic at the microphone of the Euroleague, already turned to match 2, Friday in the same room.
Copiously booed by the public of Olympiakos, like any former player of Panathinaikos – Mike James (10 points, 3 out of 9 shooting) will also want to catch up to prevent the Roca Team from returning to Monaco at the foot of the wall.