Zalgiris – Olympiacos 76-95: Walkup scored and McKissick equalized (video)

Olympiacos, despite its numerous absences, played great basketball, defeating Zalgiris 76-95 in Kaunas and making a strong push for the playoffs. Walkup (22p., 4r., 7as., 2kl.) and McKissick (20p., 3r., 3as., 2kl.) are in a terrible position.

the Olympic It passed like a siphon of Kaunas prevailing in her case Zalgiris with 76-95. His players Giorgos Bartzokas They played great basketball in the second half and with this positive result they firmly established themselves in the positions that lead directly to the playoffs in the competition.

Despite the many and large absences (Milutinov, Williams-Goss, Larentzakis, Mitro-Long), the “red and whites” found solutions from everyone who took the floor and with a large majority achieved their fourth victory in a row (the three were away from home).

Olympiacos started the match slightly better than the home team, and pulled off a surprise result, taking a 4-10 (4') lead. the Keenan Evans He had to deal with a modified defense but he found a way to score but he did that too Alec Peters On the other hand he only had an assist (11-17, 8'). entrance Lycavicius And Schmitz Zalgiris helped reduce the gap to the maximum (20-21) before the end of the opening period.

walk towards And Schmitz They were the most prominent attacking players on both teams, but the “Red and White” remained in front (25-30, 14). the Zalgiris With 2/2 three-pointers he outscored them 31-30 until the end of the first half by collecting successive offensive rebounds and found second-chance points. the McKissic He was essentially the main protagonist of the Piraeus attack with a 'shutdown' outcome. At 39-41 with his impressive tan.

The third quarter started with two three-pointers from Walkup, which helped his teammates find their rhythm (44-49, 23). Peters And Papanicolaou They combined perfectly as the five did their best on the back end and as a result the lead rose to +11 (45-56, 26) thanks to Wright points. However, the Maus were unable to stop him, and by reaching 11 points in just a few minutes, he made sure to increase the lead even more (51-64, 28).

Barzoka's players remained focused on their tasks, and with goals from McKissick, Walkup and Papanikolaou, the lead increased further to 21 points (61-82, 35). Until the final century, the picture of the match did not change and Olympiacos celebrated another great victory with a score of 76-95.

Where the match was referenced: In the third quarter, Olympiacos played amazing basketball, dominating Zalgiris and building a double-digit points difference. In the recent period, despite Zalgiris' attempt to respond, the Piraeus team remained calm and managed to achieve a major victory.

The best ever: Thomas Walkup played an unimaginable game. He played 29:18 and provided 22 points (career high) on 5/5 2-pointers, 4/8 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers.

Saquil McKissick was also fun, playing 23:38 and getting 20 points (5/5 doubles, 2/5 triples, 4/5 folders), 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

They expected more: On a bad night, Zalgiris' center stays with Perutis and Hayes in the shallows.

His performance went: Rowlands-Schmitz finished with 17 points and 4 rebounds. Keenan Evans was also good with 18 points (7/7 Vol).

Victory partner: Great work from Moses Wright (11AM), Alec Peters (16AM, 6AM, 3A) and Kosta Papanikolaou (7AM, 2AM, 3A) all had a back problem.

What happened in the first round: Piraeus had defeated the Lithuanians in the SEF with a score of 89-72. The possibility of a draw is very remote anyway.

Match statistics: The “red and white” finished with 25/32 two-pointers (78.1%), 9/22 three-pointers (40.9%), 23 assists and 8 fouls. The home team shot poorly (55.3% on two-pointers and 28% on three-pointers).

Their next duty: Olympiacos plays away to Peristeri in the Greek Championship. Zalgiris will host Gargzday.

Contracts: 20-23, 39-41, 56-69, 76-95