Olympiacos: Barça are very lively (77-69)
He Barça he gets bigger in the second game against Olympiacos (77-69) and puts 1-1 draw. The huge Jabari Parker (24), well covered by the twin towers of Vesely (10) and Willie (11), led Roger Grimau’s men, who made it clear that they had by no means said their last word.
Connected from the start
The Blaugrana seemed to understand that the best way to gain confidence in such an important match was to starts with sixth gear engaged. And after the first few minutes of equality, they succeeded. Entrusted to Parker and Hernangomez, the main attacking players of the first quarter, Barça managed to make it 11-0, leading to a magnificent end to the period (25-14), which allowed Palau to show maximum strength.
Olympiacos dominates the second
However, the very high level and excellent defense against the Greeks was difficult to replicate in the second match. Bartzokas’ men stepped on the gas pedal, playing out two sets, which Barça managed to minimize only thanks to threes from Satoransky (30-20) and Kalinic (37-30). After the Serb’s three, four more points came (41-30), which suggested that the good lead would continue into the break, but Olympiacos, with Peters and McKissic, reduced it to 43-37.
Willie seems to be regaining his edge
The third period began with an exchange of blows, with Jabari Parker and Luke Sikma shooting from the perimeter, which allowed the Coolers’ advantage to remain stable. A very successful three put the Greeks within two, Jabari Parker responded with an imperial dunk, but the Greeks, with eight straight points from Williams-Goss, took the lead (54-55) for the first time since 9-10 games. first quarter.
Jabari Parker as MVP
At that moment, the figure of Willy Hernangomez appeared, with four of the last six points of the fourth cooler, reaching victory in the last ten minutes (60-57). Captain Alex Abrines led the way with a triple early in the final quarter and another with Jabari Parker as MVP and Jokubaitis’ goal (68-61) again blew Palau’s mind and forced Bartzokas to stop it with a timeout. There is half of the last quarter left and everything must be decided. But Abrines and Parker, always Parker, told Europe that this Barça is very far from death. Two more threes, +10 on the scoreboard (74-64) and Palau had a great night.
To Greece with everything
The ideal combination to ensure vital victory (77-69) will go to Greece with an equal score. Now, after traveling to Andorra this Sunday (18:30), the Coolers will have to win at least one of the two games in Athens (Tuesday 30 April at 20:30 and Thursday 2 May at 18:45). ) may return to Palau following the results of the qualifying tournament. If either team can win both games, they will advance to the Final Four in Berlin.
Match sheet
Barça: 77
Olympiacos: 69
Barça: Rubio (0), Laprovittola (5), Kalinic (5), Parker (24) and Vesely (10) – starting five – Da Silva (0), Brizuela (-), Satroanski (7), Hernangomez (11), Abrines (9), Nnaji (-) and Yokubaitis (6).
Olympiacos: Canaan (2), Walkup (7), Sikma (5), Peters (20) and Fall (3) – starting five – Williams-Goss (10), Wright (6), Larentzakis (0), Brazdeikis (-), Petrusev (6), Milutinov (0) and McKissic (10).
Particles: 27–14, 43–37, 60–57, 77–69.
Judges: Sreten Radovic, Carmelo Paternico, Uros Nikolic.