With Nicolas Laprovittola safely leading his team to the win in overtime, Real Madrid completes this double game week with an 82-86 win against Olympiacos in Piraeus on Friday night (18/12). Real Madrid missed Anthony Randolph at the beginning of the second half, but the players of Pablo Laso managed to get away with the win. Olympiacos was close to the win but a few turnovers in the last minutes cost them a much needed win.
Nicolas Laprovittola was the top scorer for the guests with 19 points with Trey Thompkins adding 15. For Olympiacos, Hassan Martin and Shaquielle McKissic were the leading scorers with 18 points each, while Kostas Sloukas added 11.
The Match
In the first quarter, Real Madrid took the first lead of the match with two free throws from Randolph, with Jean Charles replying with his first field goal (2-2). Octavius Ellis gave Olympiacos their first lead a few minutes later (4-2) with Laprovittola firing his first triple of the game, putting Real back into the leader’s position (4-5). Despite Olympiacos’ missed scoring opportunities, Ellis on the defensive end forced Tavares to a turnover, giving the possession back to his team. Real Madrid got their first three-point lead of the match with Gabriel Deck with five minutes until the end of the quarter remaining (4-7). Shaquielle McKissic with an impressive effort completed a three-point play to tie things up to nine points (9-9). With the two teams missing numerous offensive efforts, the first quarter ends with Olympiacos and Real Madrid all squared (12-12).
With the second quarter underway, two free throws from Harrison gave Olympiacos their 2-point lead back with Real Madrid always finding a way to tie it and stay close (14-14). Sasha Vezenkov from the free throw line makes the score 16-14, for Olympiacos with Taylor adding two more for Real Madrid. Impressive offensive effort from Sasha Vezenkov made the score 19-16 for Olympiacos but Thompkins scored his own two pointer to come back within one point. Spanoulis with the floater gave Olympiacos a two point lead with Hassan Martin extending it a few seconds later with the offensive rebound and the easy basket, to give Olympiacos their largest lead of the match (23-19). Travelling violation on Thompkins led Olympiacos to a six-point lead with Aaron Harrison (25-19). The turnovers kept coming from Real Madrid giving the hosts the chance to extend their lead to 8 points with Aaron Harrison being the main offensive weapon 4 minutes until the end of the first half (27-19). Causeur with the corner three, brought Real Madrid closer to the score with Thompkins completing a 5-0 run for the guests (27-24). Rudy Fernandez with the triple put his team back ahead by one (27-28). Consecutive triples from Vezenkov and Llull brought the score to 30-31 at the end of the first half.
With a 6-0 run Real Madrid started the second half leading by 7 points (30-37) with Livio Jean-Charles creating score for his team in the third quarter (32-37). Excellent execution of the pick and roll for the hosts gets the score to 34-37 with two points from Hassan Martin. The American center with back-to-back baskets gets Olympiacos back on the game after Real’s early 6-0 run (36-37). With Real Madrid missing Anthony Randolph early in the second half and Olympiacos putting on a show on the defensive end of the court, Real kept their lead with a big basket from Abalde (36-39) with McKissic scoring for three to tie things up, midpoint the third quarter (39-39). Olympiacos’ defense led the hosts to another lead in the match with Hassan Martin and Vassilis Spanoulis cooperating perfectly (44-41). Spanoulis presence in the third quarter leads Olympiacos to a 7-point lead in the game (48-41) while Hassan Martin with 8 points in the quarter makes all the work on the scoring. Edy Tavares was the man who was keeping Real Madrid alive, but Livio Jean-Charles was the one who made sure his teams keeps their lead (51-43). Back-to-back triples from Real Madrid brings them back on the game, trailing by 2 points at the end of the third quarter (51-49).
Carroll gives Real Madrid the lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter (51-52) but not for long, since Aaron Harrison scores two free throws few seconds later (53-52). Tavares with an impressive block and Thompkins with the triple brings Real Madrid up by 4 points, forcing coach Bartzokas to a time out (53-57). Hassan Martin with the offensive foul gives Real Madrid another possession which of course didn’t go to waste with Laprovittola scoring for three (53-60). Sensational creativity from McKissic leads Olympiacos to a three-point play opportunity and the score to 56-60. Sloukas hits for three a few seconds later bringing his team back within one point (59-60). Edy Tavares stops Olympiacos’ run (59-62) but Kostas Sloukas took advantage of the opportunity given and scored another field goal (61-62). Second triple for Sergio Llull brings Real Madrid to a 4-point lead (61-65) with Olympiacos making the shot clock violation. With four minutes until the end of the match remaining, Shaquielle McKissic keeps his team alive with another tough bucket (63-65) but Tavares was dominant on both the offensive and the defensive end (63-69). Kostas Sloukas with his second triple of the game brings his team within three points (66-69) with Ellis making one out of his two free throws (67-69). Olympiacos’ defense didn’t make it easy for Real Madrid to extend their lead further more, committing turnovers and giving the hosts the chance to tie things up one minute before the end of the match. Edy Tavares with his fifth block didn’t let Olympiacos score, but Real Madrid missed their chance too. With 38 seconds remaining, Olympiacos had the possession with Llull sending Sloukas to the free throw line (69-69). None of the teams could take the lead in the last seconds going to an overtime.
Overtime starts with Tavares’ dunk while Olympiacos’ players also committed the foul (69-72). McKissic for once more with the dunk gets his team back within one, not letting the guests get away with a larger lead (71-72). Four points in a row from Laprovittola, gives Real Madrid a 5-point lead (71-76) with McKissic taking it down back to two points (74-76). Olympiacos had the chance to get back in the leader’s position with Hassan Martin completing the alley-hoop and getting the extra free throw (77-76). Thompkins makes no mistake from the perimeter but Martin for once again, ties things up (79-79). Real Madrid committed the turnover with Laprovittola, Hassan Martin scored another bucket, Llull fired the triple getting the score to 81-82 with 14 seconds remaining. Olympiacos’ committed the turnover, giving Real Madrid the possession and Laprovittola scored two easy free throws (81-84). With 12 seconds on the clock, Sloukas heads to the free throw line where he made one out of two. Laprovittola on the other end made both leading his team to an 82-86 win.
