Disappointing loss for Olympiacos at home against Euroleague newcomer
Last night we witness at the first win ever for Zenit St. Petersburg in Euroleague and a very huge surprise, because the win came away on Olympiacos Pireu’s home court. The win was even sweeter because it came after an OT thriller that made the Greek fans angrier on their favourite team.
The match started very well for the home team with a 12-0 run and everything was set for a comfortable and big margin win. But Zenit made a huge comeback and not only reduce the gap, but also win the first quarter by one point, 20-19. In the second quarter, Olympiacos came back in the game and took the lead 31-26 after first three-pointer of the game for the team. However, Zenit didn’t give up and win the second quarter by another one point difference, 18-17. At the halftime, the shooting percentages from the 3-point line were awful for Olympiacos with only one shot made out of 12 attempts.
The second half continued to be like the first one with Olympiacos finishing the third quarter with 0-6 from the three-point line and Zenit winning another quarter 15-11. The fourth quarter started with a three from Kevin Punter and that announced a comeback from the Greek team. Zenit had the edge of the game until late minutes when, with 2 consecutive three-pointers from Punter and Papanikolaou, Olympiacos send the game in OT and gave a huge morale boost for their fans. Despite they scored the first point in overtime, Zenit took the advantage of scoring the next six points and after that they continue to protect the lead until the finish, earning a well-deserved win, 77-68.
The main scorers for Olympiacos were Kevin Punter with 16 points, but with an awful shooting (3-9 inside the arc and 2-12 outside the arc) and Nikola Milutinov with 16 points and 16 rebounds. For Zenit, Mateusz Potnika made an outstanding game. Not only was the MPV of the match with 18 points and 5 rebounds, but also made a huge block in the final minutes of OT that announced their impending victory. Also, Gustavo Ayon, recovered in time for the game, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Before the game, a write and preview and I pointed out that Zenit three-point shooting was awful in this start of the season and Olympiacos have to defend well and keep them at the same level from that area. But, guess what happened? The outcome was the exact opposite of that, with Olympiacos finishing with 20% from the distance (6-30), thanks to Punter, Spanoulis and Brandon Paul, who combined scored 3 out of 20 attempts. I think Oly entered in this game like they were already victorious and that 12-0 run from the start of the match only fuelled that mindset. Well, that was too bad, because Zenit brought them down-to-earth. In the next games, Olympiacos will travel to Vitoria to face Baskonia, while Zenit will face at home the other Greek opponent, Panathinaikos.
Photo: Euroleague
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
