Olympiacos comfortably defeated Barcelona by 92:58 on their home court in the Game 4 of the EuroLeague quarterfinals.
When it comes to injuries, neither of the two teams had any serious problems. The only player who missed the game due to injury was Michalis Lountzis.
Barcelona found good solutions from the very beginning, and with high shooting percentages, they reached a seven-point lead. Moustapha Fall dominated in the opponent’s paint, and after Isaiah Canaan hit a three-pointer for an explosion in Piraeus, the Reds reduced the deficit to 19:17. Barcelona ended the first quarter with a fairly efficient performance, leading 23:21.
The Reds increased their aggressiveness in defense, causing frustration among the visiting team players. Nikola Milutinov, Nigel Williams-Goss, and Giannoulis Larentzakis created an incredible 17:0 run, including the end of the first quarter, for a lead of 36:23. During those moments, Roger Grimau also received a technical foul, dissatisfied with the refereeing. Olympiacos continued to dominate, and once again Filip Petrusev played a significant role. After 20 minutes of play, they were leading 53-37, although at times they had a lead of up to 19 points.
Williams-Goss and Canaan created an opening 8:0 run at the start of the second half for Olympiacos, exploiting a new weakness in the opponent’s game. This took them to a maximum 24-point lead (61:37). Then Barcelona responded with an 8:0 run, but another 8:0 run for Olympiacos was created by Williams-Goss and Kostas Papanikolaou with two three-pointers in just a few seconds. The same player hit his third consecutive three-pointer at the end of the third quarter for 72:47.
It was crystal clear that this game would belong to the red and whites from Piraeus, as the game turned into a one-way street from the very beginning and the same trend continued throughout. At one point, with a score of 81:51, it seemed that the home team would threaten the record for the biggest win in the club’s history. Namely, they outplayed Siena with a 48-point difference in 2011, and the second biggest win was against the same opponent a year later (plus 20). The record was not threatened, but they recorded their second most convincing win in the club’s history in terms of the EuroLeague playoffs.
The top scorer in the winning team was Shaquielle McKissic, scoring 21 points, Moustapha Fall stopped at 12, and Nigel Williams-Goss scored 11 points. The only player with double-digit points in Barcelona was Jabari Parker, scoring 10 points.
Game 5, which will decide the team advancing to the Final Four, will be played on May 8th in Barcelona.
OLYMPIACOS – BARCELONA 92:58 (21:23, 32:14, 19:10, 20:11)
Venue: Peace and Friendship Stadium, Piraeus
Referees: Radovic, Pukl, Hordov
Olympiacos: Walkup, Williams-Goss 11, Wright, Canaan 11, Larentzakis 4, Mitrou-Long 2, Fall 12, Papanikoloau 9, Peters 4, Petrusev 10, Milutinov 8, McKissic 21
Barcelona:Da Silva 4, Vesely 9, Brizuela 3, Rubio 3, Kalinić 2, Satoransky 6, Hernangomez 5, Laprovittola 5, Abrines 3, Parker 10, Nnaji 6, Jokubaitis 2