Winning in Greece no longer seems like an impossible mission. Barça already knew that if they wanted to be in the final four they were obliged to interfere between Peace and Friendship and win in Piraeus, but do so with the series tied and after a superb exercise, one of the most complete of the course at the right time , makes it a more earthly mission. The Grimau team rose from the terrible blow of the defeat of the first game with a titanic physical display, completing a sidereal defense, then fed with success from the goal (9/19) and a Jabari Parker in command of the operations with his 24 points.
Barça started by doing his homework, aware that his bad start in the first game hurt him too much and he ended up on the canvas. It didn’t take him long to see a very different team, much more connected and, above all, intense in defense, including the novelty of Ricky Rubio in the quintet. As if Grimau wanted to renew energy. The Greek team barely added 14 points in the first quarter, and almost all of them with blood, sweat and tears, as the canons dictate in a Euroleague playoffs.
Laprovittola, who did not appear after the break, started more incisive, trying to put distance on the scoreboard from the first plays but a pair of consecutive triples by Peters cut short that first escape project. The second one seemed like the good one. Jabari Parker began to slide through the paint and teamed up with Willy Henrangómez to chain up to three two plus one almost in a row, cementing an 11-0 run that made it 23-12 in the light of an even hotter and more connected Palau. Tenths before the first horn sounded, Parker himself placed the maximum of the night, and of the entire tie, for Barça at 27-14.
An Olympiacos team seemed not very successful but not particularly worried either, very convinced that following Bartzokas’ script they could end up surprising Barça again. If the Blaugrana went through the first step making the rubber, last night it was the Greek team’s turn. A minute in a trance from the undetectable McKissic cut it to 34-30 (minute 15) in the blink of an eye. But this time he presented the Grimau team with more weapons, with Vesely much more involved in the game and Satoransky wasting physicality and risking his life in every action. It was the center who stretched again to 41-30, but Olympiacos responded again to stay in the game. Their failures in free kicks, one of the great pending issues of this team, did not help the Blaugrana.
The pertinent time in the locker room seemed to suit Olympiacos better and Williams-Goss began to cut back. First with an improbable three-pointer from the corner, which was followed by another more conventional one and then a layup to give his team the first lead since Peters’ initial basket. The moment was very delicate for Barça, on the verge of looking into the abyss, but he knew how to stay calm and with inside balls to Willy Hernangómez he stopped the blow and regained control.
The first 34 seconds of the fourth quarter were dramatic for Olympiacos. Canaan and Williams-Goss committed their fourth foul and Bartzokas only had Peters left as a stiletto. On the other hand, Barça began to show off its outside arsenal and hammered the Greeks with three-pointers, with three from Jabari Parker and two from Abrines. This time the Greek team had no strength left, and they handed over their weapons even before time.
Piraeus is Barça’s great Colossus right now. But taking it down no longer seems like an epic.
77. Barça (27 16 17 17): Rubio (-), Laprovittola (5), Kalinic (5), Parker (24), Vesely (10) -starting team-, Jokubaitis (6), Hernangómez (11), Satoransky (7), Abrines (9) and Da Silva (-).
69. Olympiacos (14 23 20 12): Canaan (2), Walkup (7), Peters (20), Sikma (5), Fall (3) -equipo inicial-, Williams-Goss (10), McKissic (10), Wright (6), Larentzakis (-), Petrusev (6) y Milutinov (-).
Referees: Sreten Radovic (CRO), Carmelo Paternico (ITA) and Uros Nikolic (SER). No eliminated. Technical fouls were awarded to the visitors Canaan (min.19), Williams-Goss (min.31) and coach Georgios Bartzokas (min.38).
Incidents: second game of the Euroleague quarterfinals played at the Palau Blaugrana in Barcelona before 7,692 spectators, the second best entrance of the season.
