Olympiacos fought back fiercely to derail Barça in the fourth game of the series, to crush and twist it, to tie the series at two. So the ticket to the Final Four, glory and victory, goes through the Palau, with the teams named on the 8th.
The Olympiacos fans loudly booed the Euroleague’s I feel devotion anthem, an energetic protest against what they consider a disastrous and decisive refereeing in the last match with Barça, which they won at the buzzer and after extra time. Errors that the organization recognized, although they did not tip the balance. But failures, in any case, that reverberated in the spirit and throats of the fans of the Peace and Friendship Stadium, a pavilion that exudes passion and decibels, love for basketball and for an Olympiacos that explained that it does not understand game over.
OLYMPIACOS, 92 – BARCELONA, 58
Olympiakos: Walkup (0), Canaan (11), Peters (4), Papanikolau (9) and Fall (12) -quinteto initial-; Williams-Goss (11), Larentzakis (4), Mitrou-Long (2), Petrusev (10), Milutinov (8) and McKissic (21).
Barcelona: Rubio (3), Laprovittola (5), Kalinic (2), Parker (10) and Vesely (9) –starting quintet–; Da Silva (4), Brizuela (3), Satoransky (6), Willy H. (5), Abrines (3), Nnaji (6) and Jokubaitis (2).
Partials: 22-23, 32-14, 19-10 y 20-11.
Referees: S. Radovic (Cro), S. Pukl (Eslo) and T. Hordov (Cro). No eliminations.
Peace and Friendship Stadium. About 12,000 esp.
Barcelona didn’t care about the initial shouting. He was not worried that the tall Fall ate Vesely’s toast, as he counted four run-in dunks, ten of Olympiacos’ first 14 points. He was also not bitter that Canaan once again scored from the periphery after nine victories in the two previous matches. Because he had a response for each thrust, supported by a Vesely who was in the opposite bottle and by Mr. Chof Laprovittola, always a better version with greater commitment. Arguments that gave them the first quarter (21-23) but that suddenly evaporated, because this Barça is capable like few others but irregular like none. It turns out that Olympiacos was not in the mood to beat itself early, catapulted by McKissic, Willimas-Goss, Larentzakis and Petrusev, hands with many points, enormous shocks, a high-quality bench.
Losing was not an option, falling at home even less so. Electric, in combustion, fueled by the breath of their people, the Greeks put Piraeus on its feet, a partial score of 15 points to zero, a ramp to destroy Barça. The rebounding, the baskets and the basketball were one-way from that point on. 53-37 at intermission; 71-47 in the absence of the epilogue.
Barcelona did not know how to rebuild, broken toys in the face of rival fiery. Now Williams-Goss; now Peters; Now anyone who wasn’t Barça. A Greek feast without remission, a bacchanal with the orange ball that Papanikolau adorned, the captain who started the series in the rebound and will end it with the arrow up, the best news for the Greek team. But the Palau, La Galia, will pass sentence.
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2024-05-02 18:51:17
#Olympiacos #breaks #Barcelona #Basketball #Sports
