Most dominant Final Four quarter ever propels Olympiacos to EuroLeague final game / News - Basketnews.com

An incredible partial score of 27-2 in the third quarter pushed Olympiacos past AS Monaco and led the Reds to their first EuroLeague title game since 2017.

Credit: L.Žemgulis Credit L.Žemgulis

Olympiacos Piraeus were down throughout the entire first half, as AS Monaco led by as many as 12 (41-29) after the first 20 minutes. However, the Reds bounced back for good in the third quarter and won the first semi-final 76-62 (14-20, 15-21, 27-2, 20-19), recording the best 10 minutes ever witnessed by any team in Final Four history.

Player of the Game EFF 21 Kostas Papanikolaou Points 15 Accuracy 5-10 Rebounds 8 Assists 0

Over ten minutes, Giorgos Bartzokas' squad registered an astonishing partial score of 27-2 that left Monaco stunned and pushed the Reds to their first title game since 2017.

Last year, Olympiacos saw Vasilije Micic deprive them of the chance to claim the trophy, but this time, the Greeks were really determined to go all the way and took no prisoners in a dominant second half.

Kostas Papanikolaou and Sasha Vezenkov overcame their early shooting slump and finished with 19 and 15 points respectively for the winning side. Thomas Walkup went scoreless, but dished out 7 assists, most of which in the game-turning third period.

Monaco, who had recorded two wins over Olympiacos in the regular season, had a great first half, but ran out of steam in the second part. Mike James and Elie Okobo led all scorers with 19 points apiece.

Giorgos Bartzokas' squad started with 3/7 from the charity stripe and one field goal made in seven minutes. Mike James caught fire with two straight 3-pointers to keep Monaco ahead 20-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Olympiacos stayed close thanks to their 3-point percentages and despite their string of missed free throws, managed to increase their defensive intensity and score in transition. A 0-7 run by the Reds tied the semi-final at 22, spearheaded by Sloukas' three assists. Sasa Obradovic chose to bench Mike James for the first part of the second quarter. When the team's star player returned, the lineup also included Elie Okobo and Jordan Loyd.

Olympiacos aimed at Donatas Motiejunas' slow lateral movement to hit Monaco's defense, but the Final Four rookies increased their lead to double digits (38-28) with one minute left in the first half. Moustapha Fall dominated the paint at the start of the third period, when the Reds run some off-ball plays that allowed them to turn the game around (43-41) on the back of a 0-14 run after 3-points shot from Papanikolaou and Vezenkov. Monaco, on the other hand, went scoreless for 5'40'' and completely lost momentum.

AS Monaco / Schedule

Olympiacos Piraeus AS Monaco76-62 AS Monaco FC BarcelonaSun14:00

Since the game broke open and Olympiacos found an offensive flow and forced Monaco to almost impossible shots, the Reds were unstoppable. Bartzokas saw his team get a double-digit margin and conclude the third quarter on the highest note imaginable. A partial score of 27-2 rendered the Greeks the favorite to advance to the final. Monaco tried to bounce back from being down 43-56 and returned to their early habits, pressing the ball and holding down their opponents to four points in as many minutes in the fourth quarter.

However, that didn't change much. Olympiacos were defensively solid and Monaco never came closer than seven points (60-53).

Olympiacos Piraeus: Sasha Vezenkov 19 (7/14 FG, 3/4 FT, 6 REB, 3 AST), Kostas Papanikolaou 15 (5/10 FG, 3/5 FT, 8 REB, 2 ST), Moustapha Fall 12 (5/6 FG, 2/5 FT, 4 REB, 4 AST), Kostas Sloukas 9 (7 AST, 4 TO), Isaiah Canaan 7 (3/5 FG).

AS Monaco: Elie Okobo 17 (5/13 FG, 5/8 FT, 5 AST), Mike James 17 (4/14 FG, 7/7 FT, 3 REB, 2 AST, 2 TO), Jordan Loyd 11 (3/9 FG, 4/5 FT, 7 REB, 2 AST, 2 ST, 3 TO), Donatas Motiejunas 7 (5 REB).

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