Another Turkish-Greek derby in the Euroleague: Efes hosting Olympiacos
Olympiacos has an almost impossible mission tonight in Istanbul
Leaders Anadolu Efes and 8th placed Olympiacos will meet today at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul in the 28th Round of the EuroLeague season.
On Wednesday, Efes lost a very close game in Tel Aviv that ended their 11 game winning streak in the EuroLeague. However, Ergin Ataman’s team still has a 2 game lead ahead of the 2nd placed Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Shane Larkin returned from his injury against Maccabi and despite the loss, the team played well.
Meanwhile, Olympiacos comes after a great win against their archrivals Panathinaikos. As always, the Greek derby was very intense, newcomer Shaquielle McKissic had a monster game and Olympiacos managed to hold on to the victory, taking advantage of the disastrous night from the 3 point line ( 1 for 20 ) by Panathinaikos. The win should give Olympiacos a boost of confidence ahead of the crucial games to come. With seven games remaining in the regular season, Georgios Bartzokas’s team is tied with Khimki Moscow for the 8th place and has a very tough schedule, including games with teams they fight with for the last playoff spot, like Milan, Khimki and Fenerbahce. It won’t be an easy task for the Reds to reach the playoffs, especially considering they miss their leader Vassilis Spanoulis and their starting center Nikola Milutinov.
Olympiacos will fight very hard to win, however I don’t believe Efes will lose their 2nd game in a row this week. Also taking in consideration the absences of Olympiacos and that the game will be played in Istanbul, I expect an easy win for the Turkish team tonight.
Photo: Euroleague
Imre Halasz
