Olympiacos Piraeus protected home court on Wednesday night with a convincing 84-72 win over Real Madrid in Game 1 of the EuroLeague quarterfinals.
Sasha Vezenkov, greeted by “MVP” chants from the Peace and Friendship Stadium crowd, answered with a dominant all-around performance just days after missing out on the regular-season MVP award.
The Bulgarian forward poured in 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while also collecting 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and finishing with a game-high performance index rating (PIR) of 31.
Vezenkov wasted no time setting the tone, scoring early in the first quarter to tie the game before draining a three-pointer to give Olympiacos a 12-2 lead.
By halftime, he had already compiled 13 points and two triples, fueling the Greek club’s 47-29 advantage at the break.
Real Madrid briefly narrowed the gap in the third quarter behind veteran guard Sergio Llull, who finished with a team-high 16 points off the bench.
However, the hosts maintained control thanks to timely baskets from Nikola Milutinov, who tallied 11 points and 8 boards, and Alec Peters, who added 10 points in under 18 minutes.
Olympiacos led 27-14 after the opening period and outscored Real in both the first and second quarters, never trailing after the early run initiated by Vezenkov.
Madrid struggled with turnovers and poor outside shooting, connecting on just 7-of-24 from long range and giving up 9 steals to the home team.
Facundo Campazzo dished out 5 assists for the Spanish side but also committed 5 turnovers, contributing to a team-wide total of 19.
Olympiacos held a decisive edge in PIR (+60 overall), reflecting their efficiency on both ends of the floor, while limiting Real Madrid to just 29.2% from deep.
With the win, Olympiacos takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series, with Game 2 set to be played again in Piraeus on Friday.
Real Madrid will need to regroup quickly to avoid falling into a two-game hole before the series shifts back to the WiZink Center in Madrid.
