2018-19Regular SeasonRound 21
Olympiacos Piraeus 55
FC Barcelona Lassa 76
January 31, 2019 CET: 20:00
Local time: 21:00 PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP STADIUM

Singleton shines as Barca batters Olympiacos

FC Barcelona Lassa routed Olympiacos Piraeus 55-76 on the road on Thursday to climb ahead of the Reds in the standings. Both teams now have a 12-9 record, but Barcelona ranks fifth due to its tie-break advantage acquired in this game; Olympiacos had won by 9 points at Palau Blaugrana. Chris Singleton led the winners with 18 points. Adam Hanga had 11, Ante Tomic 10 and Kevin Pangos tallied 9 points and 8 assists for Barcelona. Nikola Milutinov and Janis Strelnieks led Olympiacos with 13 points apiece. Barcelona led 6-27 after 10 minutes and kept a safe margin all the way till the final buzzer.

Singleton needed just 10 seconds to strike from downtown. Jaka Blazic added a layup and Tomic sank a turnaround jumper for a 2-7 Barcelona lead. Strelnieks hit a jumper, but Tomic matched it with a jump hook and Blazic downed a stop-and-pop triple that caused Olympiacos to call timeout at 4-12. Pangos took over with a layup-plus-foul, then Singleton and Hanga each hit three-pointers in a 0-13 run that Kevin Seraphin capped with free throws for a 6-27 Barcelona lead after 10 minutes. Olympiacos improved its defense early in the second quarter, while Milutinov and Vassilis Spanoulis scored the opening 9 points in a 15-0 run that Axel Toupane capped with a triple, bringing the hosts within 21-27. Blazic answered from downtown and a floater by Pangos restored a 21-32 Barcelona lead. Nigel Williams-Goss joined the three-point shootout and Georgios Bogris and Printezis scored down low. However, Thomas Heurtel and Pierre Oriola kept Barcelona fully in charge, 28-38, at halftime. Milutinov dunked immediately after the restart, but Tomic answered with a turnaround jumper and Singleton fired in his third triple for a 30-43 Barcelona lead. Williams-Goss and Strelnieks stepped up for Olympiacos only to see Heurtel, Hanga and a red-hot Singleton keep Barcelona fully in charge, 36-50. Singleton downed another three-pointer and added a layup for a 40-55 Barcelona margin, which Strelnieks cut to 43-55 at the third quarter buzzer. Hanga took over with a tip-in early in the fourth quarter and Seraphin scored in the paint for a 16-point Barcelona margin. Hanga and Strelnieks traded floaters and a big basket by Pangos sealed the outcome, 45-63, midway through the fourth quarter. A new battle began for the tie-break advantage, which could be critical at the end of the regular season. Barcelona also took care of that, as by the time Victor Claver hit a three-pointer to make it 49-72, everything was said and done.

Pivotal performer

A former Panathinaikos Athens player, Chris Singleton knows what it takes to beat Olympiacos on the road and had one of his best games this season. He fired in 5 of 8 three-point shots on his way to 18 points and added 5 rebounds, a steal and 2 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 17.

Game-changing moment

Barcelona led 6-14 early in the game, but Chris Singleton and Adam Hanga combined for 8 points in a 0-13 run that boosted the visitors' lead to 6-27. Olympiacos, which had an assist and 6 turnovers in the first quarter, never stopped trying, but Barcelona kept full control of the game the rest of the way.

Stellar stat

Barcelona limited Olympiacos to just 55 points. That tied the lowest score at home for the Reds in EuroLeague history. Olympiacos was held to 55 points at home once before - against Barcelona, also coached by Svetislav Pesic, on April 10, 2003. Barcelona won that day 55-58.

Did you notice?

Barcelona led by 21 points at the end of the first quarter, 6-27. It was the biggest difference ever by any team against Olympiacos after the opening 10 minutes. The previous high was a 17-point gap, shared by Real Madrid (in the 2013 EuroLeague championship game, 10-27) and Anadolu Efes Istanbul (in the 2012-13 regular season, 30-13).

Next game

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Thursday, February 7; Olympiacos visits Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and Barcelona hosts Zalgiris Kaunas in a rematch of the 1985 Cup Winners' Cup championship game. That marked Barcelona's first European title and Zalgiris's first continental final.

Chris Singleton - FC Barcelona Lassa - EB18
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; JOVCIC, MILIVOJE; HORDOV, TOMISLAV
Attendance: 10207
By Quarter1234
Olympiacos Piraeus6221512
FC Barcelona Lassa27111721
End of Quarter1234
Olympiacos Piraeus6284355
FC Barcelona Lassa27385576
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 WILLIAMS-GOSS, NIGEL 28:07 9 2/4 1/3 2/4   5 5 1 2 3     3 4 9
6 TOUPANE, AXEL 24:44 4 0/2 1/5 1/2   3 3 2   1 1 1 1 2 2
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 26:32 7 2/3 1/5   1 3 4 3   3     2 2 6
10 TIMMA, JANIS 14:34 1   0/3 1/2   1 1     1     1 1 -3
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 32:10 13 4/4   5/6 2 6 8 3           6 29
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 21:53 13 4/5 1/4 2/2       2 1 1     3 1 9
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 7:34   0/1       1 1           1 1  
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 29:00 6 2/7 0/2 2/4 3 3 6     1 1   2 2 3
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 2:09                   1         -1
17 MANTZARIS, VANGELIS 2:01                              
31 BOGRIS, GEORGIOS 4:20 2 1/1                     1   1
32 LEDAY, ZACH 6:56     0/1 0/2   1 1     1     1 1 -3
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 55 15/27 4/23 13/22 7 24 31 11 3 12 2 1 15 20 54
        55.6% 17.4% 59.1%
Head coach: BLATT, DAVID
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
FC Barcelona Lassa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SERAPHIN, KEVIN 13:45 8 3/6   2/2 2 2 4     1     4 1 5
3 PANGOS, KEVIN 27:05 9 4/7 0/1 1/1   3 3 8         2 5 19
5 RIBAS, PAU DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 SINGLETON, CHRIS 25:51 18 1/3 5/8 1/2 2 3 5   1 1   1 1 2 17
8 HANGA, ADAM 21:13 11 4/7 1/3   1 3 4 1 1   1   4 2 11
9 BLAZIC, JAKA 16:13 8 1/2 2/4 0/2           2       1 2
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS 19:03 7 3/7   1/2   1 1 3 1 2     1 1 5
14 PUSTOVYI, ARTEM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 17:12 2 1/2 0/1   2 4 6 1         1 1 7
24 KURIC, KYLE 7:21   0/2 0/1     2 2               -1
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 29:05 3 0/3 1/3   3 2 5   2 1     4 1 1
44 TOMIC, ANTE 23:12 10 5/8     2 3 5   2     1 3 1 11
Team           2 3 5               5
Totals 200:00 76 22/47 9/21 5/9 14 26 40 13 7 7 1 2 20 15 82
        46.8% 42.9% 55.6%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV

Head Coaches

BLATT, DAVID
Olympiacos Piraeus
"First of all, we should say congratulations to Barcelona; they played a fine game. Obviously, the way that we played in the first quarter and the way that Barcelona played was the difference in the game. They were able to play their game plan and we just chased the rest of the way. I want to say sorry to our great fans who came to support us in the way that they did. Unfortunately, we did not perform up to their level. It is a tough loss for us and will force us to make some adjustments and do some thinking on how we can get back to the way we were playing basketball a few weeks ago. Tomorrow is another day. It is funny that, at the end of the day, Barcelona scored 76 points. If I am not mistaken, they average 74 points in losing games and 84 when they win. I think Pangos scored 9 points and Heurtel 7; I don't think they really hurt us so much from those positions, but overall, offensively, they didn't hurt us beyond what you may expect in a game. What hurt us was our extremely poor offense. They were aggressive defensively and took us out of our flow early and we never found our way on offense and chased the whole game. I can just say that we played a poor game, particularly from an offensive standpoint, and I have no excuses for that."
PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona Lassa
"What can I say? If you win by 21 here and Olympiacos scored 55 points, then it is not necessary to make a big analysis of the game. I think everything happens for a reason. We prepared the game really well and knew that Olympiacos is a team that is ready to change defense from situation to situation to matchup or man-to-man, but we were very good and played with confidence. Our defensive job was at a high level, especially our transition defense; we didn't allow Olympiacos to score any easy points, controlled the rebounds and with 14 offensive rebounds, we got new confidence for the next shot. On offense, we had very good balance between our inside game with Seraphin and Tomic and our outside game. Chris [Singleton] made his shots and we had good organization of the game from our outside players. Let's say in one word that it was a perfect game for us."

Players

HANGA, ADAM
FC Barcelona Lassa
"I think we played a great game. From the beginning, we started really well, really strong and played great defense all game long. It is always difficult to play against Olympiacos, especially in its home court, but we are very happy because we faced a direct opponent and fought until the end to get a very important win. We knew that at some point of the game Olympiacos would start playing better, but I believe that, in this moment, we didn't let them come back into the game. Our transition defense was really good and even when we made some mistakes in pick-and-roll situations, we corrected it in the second half and controlled the whole game. We have the tie-break advantage, too. We knew we had to win by more than 9 points. Small details can make the difference at the end of the regular season."
PANGOS, KEVIN
FC Barcelona Lassa
"I think we had a good start and I think our defense was pretty solid all game, just our energy overall. When we play like that, we're pretty hard to beat. I think our team keeps getting better and that's the most important thing in a long season like this, so this win definitely helps."
SINGLETON, CHRIS
FC Barcelona Lassa
"I played here 10-15 times the past two years. I don't know if I had an advantage shooting, but I'm happy we got the win. Teamwork. It's not just for me, it's for the EuroLeague standings. We're trying to move up, trying to do something special. We played a good game. Tough place to play, especially for us on the road. If we can build on this momentum, hopefully we can do something special."
No results found.