Baskonia won against Olympiacos by 80:69 in the Euroleague 21th round, securing their 11th win of the season.
Coach Dusko Ivanovic led this team for the 750th time in his career, and Baskonia played its milestone 300th EuroLeague game. It ended in the best possible way for the home team – a win against Olympiacos, who suffered their second consecutive loss after falling to Barcelona, due to a better performance, particularly improved defense, in the second half.
Baskonia entered this game with a full roster, while Olympiacos was without Luke Sikma. Both teams entered this game after suffering defeats in the first game of this double round. Baskonia was defeated by Monaco, while Olympiacos faced a tough loss in an away game against Barcelona.
An extremely close game unfolded in the first quarter in Vitoria, where the score was 14:17. Isaiah Canaan played fantastically for Olympiacos, hitting 4 out of 4 three-pointers, while surprisingly, the most effective scorer in the Spanish team was Daniel Diez with 6 points.
Markus Howard came to life in the second quarter, scoring 3 three-pointers, while on the other side, the Serbian duo Filip Petrusev and Nikola Milutinov led the Greek team. Petrusev scored 8 points, while Milutinov had 6 points and 6 rebounds. At the end of the first half, Baskonia led 33:32.
Dusko Ivanovic made history as the coach of Baskonia!
— Basketball Sphere (@BSphere_) January 12, 2024
The Montenegrin expert reached a milestone tonight, coaching his 750th game for Baskonia. 💯pic.twitter.com/AgMixkKDOI
Baskonia played an excellent third quarter, especially on the offensive end. Chima Moneke scored 8 points, and Maik Kotsar had a good performance, contributing to Baskonia winning the quarter 26:17. Olympiacos didn’t have a real chance to get back into the game. Baskonia easily maintained a double-digit lead until the end of the game.
The top scorer for the winning team was Markus Howard with 21 points, while in the defeated team, Isaiah Canaan stood out the most with 19 points.
BASKONIA – OLYMPIACOS 80:69 (14:17, 19:15, 26:17, 21:20)
Venue: “Buesa Arena,” Vitoria
Referees: Rocha, Pastusiak, Konstantinovs
Baskonia: Howard 21, Raieste 0, Chiozza 0, Sedekerskis 10, Marinkovic 4, Miller-McIntyre 2, Diez 11, Rogkavopoulos 5, Diop 0, Kotsar 8, Costello 6, Moneke 13
Olympiacos: Walkup 3, Williams-Goss 12, Canaan 19, Larentzakis 1, Mitrou-Long 0, Fall 6, Papanikolaou 0, Brazdeikis 0, Peters 2, Petrusev 14, Milutinov 12, McKissic 0