Until today the teams that had played a EuroLeague Game-5 away from home had always lost, but this evening first Fenerbahçe and nowOlympiacos they rewrote the statistics. The Greeks also won away, beating Barcelona 59-63 at the end of a rough match, with low shooting percentages and two solid defenses.
In the first quarter Olympiacos scored a paltry 9 points against their opponents’ 12, in the second the Greeks immediately slipped to -9 before coming back close to half-time. A 6-0 run by Peters-Milutinov brought them -2 and in the 20th minute the score was 27-25. He responded to Canaan’s three-point play for -1 Barça with a 7-0 run that gave the Catalans a 38-30 lead. Once again, however, Piraeus reacted, until Papanikolaou equalized with a triple just over a minute from the end of the half: in the 30th minute it was 40-40. Hernangomez and Laprovittola kept Barcelona afloat in the first minutes of the last half, until guest advantage at the end of a 7-0 run for McKissic’s 47-49. Abrines equalized immediately, but another 5 points from McKissic and a triple from Papanikolaou directed the match, sending Olympiacos on +7, maximum Hellenic advantage. Despite further attempts from Abrines, free throws from Canaan and Papanikolaou at the end put the result on ice.
For Olympiacos they are the third Final Four in a row: so far no success in the last 2 years, Bartzokas’ team will try to “avenge” the defeat a year ago in the final against Real Madrid. The Greeks will face Los Blancos in the semi-finals, looking for their first EuroLeague since 2013.
Barcelona: Laprovittola 17, Abrines 13, Hernangomez 9.
Olympiacos: McKissic 12, Papanikolaou 11, Milutinov 10.
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