Printezis, Hackett rally Reds to come-from-behind win over Khimki

Olympiacos Piraeus rallied from several double-digits deficits before turning on all the engines and rallying to beat Khimki Moscow Region 89-77 on Friday night at the Peace & Friendship Stadium. Olympiacos snapped its three-game losing streak, despite falling behind 27-39 in the second quarter, and 44-56 in the third quarter. However, stepping up to play some great defense, Daniel Hackett and Darius Johnson-Odom facilitating things on offense and Georgios Printezis netting points, the Reds got it going and never stopped. In a span of 14 minutes, Olympiacos put together a 42-15 run, and in the end won comfortably to improve to 3-3 in Group F, while dropping Khimki to 4-2. Printezis finished with a career-high 30 points, to go along with 9 rebounds. Vassilis Spanoulis had 14 points and 6 assists, and Hackett also scored 14. Othello Hunter collected 10 points and 10 rebound in victory. Tyrese Rice finished with 14 points and 8 assists for Khimki. James Augustine scored 13 points, Sergey Monia netted 12 on 4-of-5 shooting from long range, while Alexey Shved and Zoran Dragic scored 11 apiece in the losing effort.

First quarter: Khimki scores 14 in a row, hosts rally right back

Spanoulis split free throws to open the scoring, and Othello Hunter finished a fast break with a dunk. Sergey Monia nailed a three-pointer to open Khimki's account and tie it at 3-3. Spanoulis drove for reverse layup, and after a Khimki timeout, Zoran Dragic finished a breakaway with a layup. Georgios Printezis scored inside, but Dragic bettered it from the outside and Tyrese Rice drove for a layup, making it 7-10. The visitors’ run did not stop there, as Rice dished a length-of-the-court pass for a Shved layup, and James Augustine scored from close range on the ensuing possession to open a 7-14 margin halfway through the first quarter. After an Olympiacos timeout, two more Khimki fast breaks produced Shved’s layup, Monia’s triple and a 7-19 margin. A Printezis triple snapped a 0-14 run, before Lojeski added a short jumper to the Reds’ tally. Printezis continued the run with a fastbreak layup-plus-foul, then capped it at 10-0 with a fastbreak dunk as Olympiacos needed 75 seconds to cut 14-point deficit to 17-19. After a Khimki timeout, Shved nailed a fadeaway jumper, but Spanoulis answered with a triple to get the hosts within 1 point. Before the quarter’s end, Dmitry Sokolov scored from close range for Khimki, helping the visitors to a 20-24 lead after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Khimki pulls away again, Reds stay in touch

Hackett hit a triple for Olympiacos. After a Tyler Honeycutt tip-in, Hackett dished to Milutinov for an easy dunk. Papapetrou tied it on the next Olympiacos possession with a coast-to-coast layup. However, Rice answered with a tough off-balance triple, Egor Vyaltsev added one of his own, and after Shved’s free throws, Honeycutt buried a corner three to help open a 27-39 cushion midway through the second quarter. Printezis snapped a 0-12 run, and after Augustine’s basket, Lojeski nailed a triple, then dished it for Printezis, who cut it the deficit to 34-41 from close range. Shved drove for a layup, but Printezis scored again inside and Hacket drove the length of the court to finish the half with a layup that made it 38-43 at halftime.

Third quarter: Khimki builds another lead

Spanoulis found his favorite target, Printezis, who started the quarter with a layup. But Khimki wasn’t going to let its lead just slip away as Rice nailed a three-pointer, making it 41-48. Spanoulis answered with a three of his own, but Monia nailed one from downtown in transition, before Augustine had a put-back and Monia another three, his fourth, to extend the difference to 44-56. Hunter’s dunk-plus-foul snapped a 0-8 run, and Printezis scored a second-chance basket inside for the hosts. Dragic made a tough runner, before 3 of 4 free throws from Hackett made it 52-58. Darius Johnson-Odom grabbed his missed free throw and put it back to get Olympiacos within 3, then Strawberry hit a tough three-pointer to tie it at 58-58. Augustine snapped a 14-2 run with a layup, but Olympiacos countered with a dunk from Hunter before Papapetrou put the hosts in front with a fastbreak layup, making it 62-60 at the end of the quarter.

Fourth quarter: Olympiacos does not stop running

Printezis scored from close range, and Hackett’s free throws made it 66-60. It was a 22-4 charge over a span of seven minutes for the Reds, and it got bigger when Hackett banked in a floater. Vylatsev knocked down a triple to cut to 68-63. Hackett had a fastbreak dunk, but Rice quickly scored at the other end. Olympiacos had a bit of luck when a scramble for a loose ball turned into a Printezis three-pointer midway through the fourth, 73-65. Augustine and Spanoulis traded baskets, before, Shved’s corner triple gave Khimki hope at 75-70. However, Spanoulis fed a trailing Hunter for a monster dunk, then after a timeout, Spanoulis buried a triple, and D.J. Strawberry’s fastbreak dunk opened an 84-70 advantage. An easy two by Johnson-Odom made it 15-point affair, before a layup by Dragic snapped an 11-1 run. In the remaining time, Printezis hit another triple to round out his personally tally at 30 points.