2019-20Regular SeasonRound 14
Olympiacos Piraeus 109
Khimki Moscow Region 98
December 18, 2019 CET: 20:00
Local time: 21:00 PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP STADIUM

Olympiacos gets miracle OT comeback win

In one of the most outstanding comebacks in the EuroLeague's recent history, Olympiacos Piraeus rallied from a 9-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and beat Khimki Moscow Region 109-98 at home on Wednesday. Olympiacos improved to 6-8, while Khimki dropped to 8-7. Georgios Printezis led the winners with 26 points. Kostas Papanikolaou and Vassilis Spanoulis each added 18 while Nikola Milutinov had 16 for Olympiacos. Spanoulis also dished 10 assists. Alexey Shved led Khimki with 36 points, matching his career-best effort, plus 9 assists. Jeremy Evans added 17 points, Devin Booker had 12 and Jonas Jerebko 10 for the visitors. An unstoppable Shved and free throws by Sergey Karasev seemed to seal the outcome at 87-96 with a minute left in regulation. Printezis, Brandon Paul and Spanoulis each hit a three-pointer to tie the game, 96-96, and send the game to overtime. Olympiacos rolled in the extra period, cruising to an incredible victory.

Devin Booker got Khimki going with a tip-in and an alley-oop dunk. Olympiacos quickly found its regular go-to guy in Spanoulis, who struck from downtown and had 3 assists in an 11-0 run that Milutinov capped with a dunk for an 11-4 lead. Milutinov kept pushing the hosts with a huge slam in transition and Willie Reed added a jump hook, but Shved and Booker brought Khimki within 17-11. Printezis downed a running hook only to see Jerebko and Dairis Bertans each bury a triple to get the visitors within 19-17. Printezis scored in the low post and got help from Paul and Will Cherry to set a 25-20 Olympiacos lead after 10 minutes. Sasha Vezenkov downed a triple early in the second quarter. Chris Kramer scored in penetration and Evans added a huge dunk to bring Khimki within 29-24. Evans kept scoring, but Reed took over with consecutive put-back baskets and Vezenkov added a layup for a 35-29 Olympiacos lead. Evans scored again and Shved struck twice from downtown to make it a 2-point game. Augustine Rubit and Spanoulis rescued Olympiacos and Papanikolaou hit a three-pointer that boosted the Reds' lead to 48-39. Jerebko nailed a corner triple to bring Khimki within 49-42 at halftime.

Printezis hit a floater right after the break. Karasev and Papanikoloau exchanged three-pointers and Printezis scored down low to make it a double-digit game, 56-45. Milutinov erased Booker's layup with a jumper, then Shved fired in a triple that gave Khimki hope at 59-51. Olympiacos kept finding Printezis in the low post, but Jerebko and Bertans brought Khimki within 65-56. Evans dunked again and Shved struck twice from beyond the arc to bring the visitors back to life, 67-64. Shved soon added a three-point play, but Taylor Rochestie and Vezenkov kept Olympiacos ahead, 70-67, after 30 minutes. Papanikolaou took over with a reverse layup early in the fourth quarter, but Jerebko and Evans fueled a 0-7 run that Shved capped with a three-pointer that completed Khimki's comeback, 72-74. Shved went to the bench, but Chris Kramer and Bertans each nailed a three-pointer for a 76-82 Khimki lead with over 4 minutes left. Printezis hit a floater and followed Milutinov's wild alley-oop in traffic with a put-back layup that made it a one-point game. Shved buried his 7th three-pointer and fed Karasev for a bomb from downtown that seemed to seal the outcome at 83-90 in the next-to-last minute. Olympiacos did not give up, however, as Papanikolaou got 4 quick points, then Printezis and Paul each hit a triple for a 93-96 score with 52.3 seconds left. Olympiacos forced Khimki into a 24-second turnover and Spanoulis struck from downtown to tie the game at 96-96 with 19 seconds left. Another defensive stop allowed Olympiacos to force overtime.

Spanoulis banked in a close shot early in overtime and Paul added free throws for a 100-96 Olympiacos lead. Khimki kept struggling to score and Spanoulis found Papanikolaou for a corner triple. Booker stepped up with a put-back basket, but Printezis matched him with a dunk that caused Khimki to stop the game at 105-98 with 1:25 left and Khimki was unable to challenge after that.

Pivotal performer

Georgios Printezis had his best game so far this season, finding mismatches away and close to the basket and taking advantage of them. He finished the game with 26 points on 11-of-15 two-point shooting plus 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 4 fouls drawn for a PIR of 39.

Game-changing moment

Khimki seemed to have the game under control, leading 87-96 with a minute left, but Georgios Printezis and Brandon Paul combined for back-to-back triples. They finished the game a combined 2 of 12 from downtown but hit the shots that brought Olympiacos back to life. When Khimki turned the ball over, Vassilis Spanoulis struck from downtown to tie the game and force overtime.

Stellar stat

Two-point shots and better care of the ball allowed Olympiacos to win the game. Olympiacos hit 27 of 44 two-point shots (61.4%) and Khimki scored only 16 of 34 shots (47.1%). Olympiacos had 24 assists and 12 turnovers, while Khimki had 18 points and 16 turnovers.

Did you notice?

Shved became the first player in EuroLeague history to attempts 20 or more three-point shots in a game. He finished the game with 7-of-21 shooting from downtown. The previous record belonged to Thomas Kelati of Unicaja Malaga, who attempted 19 shots from downtown against Lottomatica Roma on March 4, 2009.

Next game

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action on Friday, December 20. Olympiacos plays against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade in the Serbian capital. Khimki hosts Zalgiris Kaunas.

Georgios Printezis - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB19
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; MOGULKOC, EMIN; BALAK, AMIT
Attendance: 6757
By Quarter1234Extra 1
Olympiacos Piraeus2524212613
Khimki Moscow Region202225292
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
Olympiacos Piraeus25497096109
Khimki Moscow Region2042679698
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 ROCHESTIE, TAYLOR 9:49 4 0/2   4/4       2         1 2 5
2 BALDWIN IV, WADE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 PAUL, BRANDON 22:37 8 0/1 1/7 5/6   2 2 1   1 1 1 1 4 5
6 KONIARIS, ANTONIOS 20:44   0/1 0/1   1 3 4 2 3       1 2 8
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 32:04 18 4/5 2/8 4/4   3 3 10   3   1 1 5 24
10 CHERRY, WILL 17:18 4     4/4   1 1 1         3 2 5
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 22:49 16 6/8   4/7 4 3 7 3   1 1   4 5 22
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 8:56 6 1/4 1/1 1/2 2 1 3     1     2 2 4
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 36:04 26 11/15 1/5 1/3 2 5 7 2 1     1   4 29
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 32:28 18 2/3 4/8 2/2   6 6 2   3   1 4 1 14
21 RUBIT, AUGUSTINE 9:33 2     2/2 1   1   2 2     3 1 1
33 REED, WILLIE 12:38 7 3/5   1/4 3 2 5 1   1   1 1 2 7
Team           3 3 6               6
Totals 225:00 109 27/44 9/30 28/38 16 29 45 24 6 12 2 5 21 30 130
        61.4% 30% 73.7%
Head coach: KEMZURA, KESTUTIS
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
Khimki Moscow Region
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SHVED, ALEXEY 40:48 36 3/10 7/21 9/13   3 3 9 1 4     1 11 30
3 KRAMER, CHRIS 27:17 5 1/2 1/3   1 4 5 3   2   1 2 3 8
5 BOOKER, DEVIN 19:59 12 5/10 0/1 2/2 5 3 8     3     3 2 10
7 KARASEV, SERGEY 24:50 8 0/2 2/3 2/2 2 2 4 2 1 1     4 1 8
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV 4:58                         1   -1
9 VIALTSEV, EGOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 JEREBKO, JONAS 31:02 10 1/3 2/5 2/2 1 4 5 3   1 1   4 1 10
12 MONIA, SERGEY 0:12                              
13 GILL, ANTHONY 23:22   0/1 0/2   2 3 5     2 2 1 3 1 -1
24 JOVIC, STEFAN 8:05 1     1/2       1   1     2 1 -1
40 EVANS, JEREMY 25:01 17 6/6 1/1 2/2 1 5 6   1 2 2   5 1 20
45 BERTANS, DAIRIS 19:26 9   3/4           2       5   5
Team           2   2     1         1
Totals 225:00 98 16/34 16/40 18/23 14 24 38 18 5 17 5 2 30 21 89
        47.1% 40% 78.3%
Head coach: KURTINAITIS, RIMAS

Head Coaches

KEMZURA, KESTUTIS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"I can say just 'wow'. I think we played most of the time with the lead because we deserved it. I think we played according to the plan that we made. But basketball, especially nowadays, against a team like this, you miscommunicate, you lose the focus in some moment and opponents like this hit 2-3 threes and gain momentum, no matter how you played before. In general, today, in the game, we were changing the defenses. We started with a pick-and-roll defense against Shved, then we changed it to another one, trying to make things more complicated for him, more difficult. Okay, he scored 36 points and is a great player but he took a lot of shots and most of the time we did a good job. How much you can do? Then we even tried to switch to avoid easy layups. But then when the game looked like it was lost, I think the guys on the court showed big heart, big spirit and all the team. Besides making those big threes, I would want to mention other things. The things that we didn't give up, that we played aggressive. We managed to force them to take bad decisions and even got some steals, put us in the situation where we could take our chances. In overtime, I think we just dominated defensively, first of all, and I can also say, when you go to overtime like this, it counts what you did before because I believe Alexey Shved was tired. Different players worked against him, not one player. I think it is a great win. I am really happy for this win because it gives us a big push and belief in what we are doing. I said before the game that turnovers and rebounds would be very important. We made 12 turnovers, which could have been just 10 because of bad luck and some missed opportunities in which we had good looks, but we got paid back in the end. Again, if I have to mention, I want to talk about the whole team, but Spanoulis was amazing, hitting the big three, getting 10 assists and making the big plays. Printezis was good, but I would mention Kostas [Papanikolaou; his spirit, his energy, brought everybody together. I told Kostas after the game - if he plays like this, with this spirit, with this attitude, it is hard for Olympiacos to lose."
KURTINAITIS, RIMAS
Khimki Moscow Region
"First, I want to congratulate Olympiacos for a really good victory. We got a really good possibility to win the game, but lost control before overtime, especially in the last minute, and this is what our problem was. If you want to win away in the EuroLeague, you can never have 17 turnovers and lose in the rebounds like we did, 7 rebounds down. These are the numbers that are not good for us. It is difficult to play two games in a row and now we must travel and play. We will get back at 07:00 and then we need to play against Zalgiris Kaunas, so it will be difficult, for sure. The emotions are not good in our team right now after losing - you go a little bit down emotionally, but okay, we are professionals and must bounce back, forget about what happened today and prepare ourselves from the next game. It will be difficult. 23:15

Players

PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"It is very important that we don't give up and fight until the end. We played some bad defense, so we gave Khimki the rhythm to come back. They scored a lot of three-point shots, especially Shved, so it is very good that we came back and fought until the end. We made some really big shots and finally took a very important win for us."
SPANOULIS, VASSILIS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"I knew that they would make Shved shoot and we didn't want to make a foul, so I took a quick decision [at the end of regulation]. This win will give us confidence. We played well for some parts of the game, but on the other side, we played really bad in some other parts of the game. We cannot have so many ups and downs. We won the game today but we cannot make the same mistakes and we have to improve."