Thompson leads Olympiacos to 2-0 after fast start

Olympiacos Piraeus rode a fast start on offense to improve to 2-0 with a hard-fought 80-75 victory over Unicaja Malaga at Peace and Friendship Stadium. The Greek team flew into a 15-point lead in the first quarter, but Unicaja soon showed their renowned fighting spirit to battle back. The visitors were trailing by only three for much of the final period but Olympiacos managed to stay ahead all the way and eventually hung on. Hollis Thompson led the home team with 15 points, Nikola Milutinov added 12 and Georgios Printezis combined 9 points with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Dragan Milosavljevic and Ray McCallum both scored 14 points for the visitors, who also had 12 points apiece from big men James Augustine and Dejan Musli. Unicaja won the rebounding battle 27-34, but were left to rue committing 17 turnovers and converting only 17 of 30 free throws.

Olympiacos made a fast start, racing into a 9-2 lead with four different players getting on the scoreboard. Three-pointers from Thompson and Ioannis Papapetrou made it a 19-4 advantage as the hosts threatened to run away with it, but Unicaja then burst into life by bridging the first and second quarters with a 0-8 run including a steal and slam from Augustine and a triple from Alberto Diaz, reducing the deficit to 21-14. Three-point strikes from Janis Strelnieks and Kostas Papanikolaou got Olympiacos moving again, but powerful play inside the paint from Musli and Augustine kept Unicaja well in contention, and it was 37-33 at the break as the visitors finished the half with a 2-11 run. Thompson started the second half with five consecutive points before Printezis re-established a double-digit lead with his first basket of the night, and the lead stayed around that margin for the remainder of the third. A three-point play from Vangelis Mantzaris extended the lead to 15 at the start of the fourth, but Unicaja responded with a 0-8 tear including back-to-back triples from Milosavljevic to make it 63-56. Carlos Suarez scored four in quick succession as Unicaja repeatedly came back to within 3 points, but the home team’s defense then found new resolve and a classic finish from Printezis stretched the lead to 75-68 with a minute remaining. Mantzaris hit a big triple and although McCallum’s three-point play kept the contest alive, Olympiacos held on to stay perfect.