Olympiacos survive final ALBA’s push as Sikma finishes with a near triple-double performance / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Luke Sikma was close to a triple-double, but Olympiacos Piraeus (4-2) returned a victorious way after suffering defeat against CSKA Moscow last week.

Player of the Game EFF 17 Tyler Dorsey Points 13 Accuracy 3-6 Rebounds 3 Assists 2

Olympiacos 87-83 (27-19, 25-23, 19-17, 16-24) beat ALBA Berlin (2-4) in front of their own fans.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Olympiacos had 14 points lead (73-59), but Yovel Zoosman made a midrange jumper, Tamir Blatt and Jonas Mattisseck sank two 3-pointers and ALBA cut the deficit to 6 points (67-73).

The visitors didn’t allow Olympiacos to bring back a double-digit lead and made a final push just before the end of the game.

Jaleen Smith and Oscar Da Silva made their buckets, and with 1:56 left to play, ALBA’s deficit was only 3 points (77-80). Livio Jean-Charles and Da Silva exchanged buckets, and with 41 seconds left, teams were separated by three points (82-79).

However, Tyler Dorsey successfully made four throws in a row, Sasha Vezenkov added another one, and Olympiacos held off and secured a victory (87-83).

Dorsey finished the game with 13 points (2/4 2PT, 1/2 3PT, 6/6 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4 drawn fouls, and 17 PIR.

"ALBA are a team I really respect," Giorgos Bartzokas said after the game. "They play a different style of basketball with a lot of passing, a lot of ball movement, and with a power forward who is the basic creator. I’m talking about Sikma. We were expecting a very difficult game and, in this part of the season, it's very important to win."

Sikma was close to a triple-double, finishing the game with 9 points (3/6 2PT, 1/2 3PT), 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, and 22 PIR.

"We have to start the games a little bit better," Israel Gonzalez admitted. "Better in offense, and better in defense as well, in one-on-one situations, but the good thing is that we are fighting all the games, we are in the game for 40 minutes and that’s a good baseline for us."

It was a special night for Olympiacos' legend Giorgos Printezis, who reached the 3,500 points mark. The forward finished the game with 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, and 8 PIR.

Olympiacos: Tyler Dorsey 13 (17 PIR), Kostas Papanikolaou 12, Kostas Sloukas 10.

ALBA: Oscar Da Silva 17 (6/8 2PT), Maodo Lo 11 (3/8 3PT), Jaleen Smith 10 (5/9 2PT), Louis Olinde 10, Luke Sikma 9 (10 REB, 8 AST, 22 PIR).

Highlights

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