Olympiacos advanced to its fourth consecutive EuroLeague Final Four after edging Real Madrid 86-84 at Movistar Arena on Thursday night.
The Greek side overcame a slow start and held off a late surge by the Spanish giants to win the best-of-five series 3-1.
Evan Fournier led all scorers with 23 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting inside the arc and 1-of-5 from deep, while Kostas Papanikolaou added 12 points, including three critical three-pointers early in the fourth quarter.
Sasha Vezenkov and Nigel Williams-Goss chipped in 10 points apiece as Olympiacos produced a balanced scoring effort to outlast Los Blancos.
Mario Hezonja paced Real Madrid with 21 points, supported by Dzanan Musa with 12 and Sergio Llull who contributed 11 off the bench.
Real Madrid opened the game with efficient perimeter shooting and built a 19-11 advantage, but Olympiacos responded through Moustapha Fall and Nikola Milutinov to close the first quarter down 21-16.
Facundo Campazzo and Hezonja helped Real Madrid extend their lead to 43-34, but late baskets from Fournier and Saben Lee trimmed the gap to 47-42 at halftime.
Olympiacos turned the game around with a 2-11 run early in the third quarter, capped by a Papanikolaou triple that gave the visitors a 58-51 lead.
Hezonja and Feliz tried to keep Madrid within reach, but Vezenkov scored seven straight points as the Reds held a 68-65 edge entering the final period.
Papanikolaou hit two more threes and Luca Vildoza added another during an 11-0 burst that gave Olympiacos its largest lead at 77-65.
Madrid responded with a 9-0 spurt sparked by Campazzo’s triple, bringing them within 82-78, but Vezenkov’s deep three restored a two-possession cushion.
Musa and Abalde scored inside to close the gap to 85-82, and though Campazzo hit a pair of free throws, Abalde’s last-second three-point attempt missed the target.
Olympiacos finished the game shooting 57.6% on two-pointers and 82.8% from the free-throw line, while Real Madrid converted 41.7% from beyond the arc and 84.2% at the stripe.
With the win, Olympiacos joins the Final Four field in Abu Dhabi and awaits its next opponent as the competition intensifies.
