2019-20Regular SeasonRound 24
February 06, 2020 CET: 20:00
Local time: 21:00 PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP STADIUM

Short-handed Reds blast CSKA

Olympiacos Piraeus had only nine healthy players on Thursday, but got maximum effort from all of them in rocking CSKA Moscow 72-59 at Peace and Friendship Stadium. Kostas Papanikolaou inspired his teammates with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks as Olympiacos improved its record to 10-14 to close within one victory of the playoff zone. Augustine Rubit added 13 points, Nikola Milutinov amassed 11 points and 12 rebounds and Brandon Paul also scored 11 for the victors. Mike James scored 20 and Darrun Hilliard 11 for CSKA, which fell to 16-8.

Olympiacos dug its heels in on defense in holding CSKA to a single basket in the first 3 minutes as Milutinov dominated inside for a 6-2 start. The hosts knocked down a pair of threes to remain in control, but Mike James stepped up as both a scorer and a passer to keep CSKA close. Wade Baldwin IV scored in transition to put the Reds in front 18-10. A CSKA timeout did little to change the momentum; Papanikolaou extended the Reds' lead to double figures. A three by Hilliard and layup by Janis Strenieks drew CSKA within 20-15 after 10 minutes. Hilliard added the first bucket of the second quarter before Rubit revived the hosts with a mid-range jumper. Hilliard converted a three-point play and Ron Baker found Kosta Koufos for a slam and CSKA's first lead, 26-27. The visitors held on to a narrow advantage, 33-34, at the break.

The hosts scored the first 4 points of the second half and regained the lead on a triple by Rubit. Paul’s pull-up triple-and-foul extended fantastic start to the third quarter for the Reds. Milutinov flexed after a put-back and Papanikolaou added free throws to complete a 16-2 run for a 49-36 lead. Janie Strelnieks split free throws for CSKA, but Olympiacos showed its dominance with a four-chance possession. Paul nailed a three to end the third quarter at 54-38. The margin was 18 after a Papanikolaou slam to start the fourth quarter. Baldwin gave Olympiacos a 20-point lead, 62-42, with a drive 4 minutes into the fourth quarter. CSKA reeled off 11 straight points – 6 from the hands of James – to rally within 65-56. However, a three by Antonios Koniaris had the Piraeus faithful dancing again. A fadeaway jumper by Rubit put the finishing touches on the game as Olympiacos pocketed a memorable victory.

Pivotal performer

Kostas Papanikolaou turned in a brilliant all-around effort to lead Olympiacos. He recorded 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks in compiling a performance index rating of 27. His excellent defense and great hustle plays made all the difference.

The hustle stats

It was actually a poor shooting game for the Reds, who made just 37.2 percent of their two-point shots and 28.0% of threes. However, Olympiacos outrebounded CSKA 45-36, including a season-high 19 offensive rebounds. The hosts had 14 steals in forcing CSKA into 20 turnovers and also blocked 6 shots.

Unhappy returns

The three CSKA players who played for Olympiacos in the past did not enjoy their trips to Piraeus. Kyle Hines was plagued by foul trouble and limited to 3 points and 4 rebounds in 16:29 on the floor. Daniel Hackett was held scoreless and had just 1 assist and a PIR of minus-8 in 14:30. And Janis Strelnieks contributed 3 points – less than half his season average - in 10:24.

What's next?

After a one-week break from EuroLeague action, Olympiacos will be back on the hardwood when it hosts LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Thursday, February 20. CSKA will be on the road the next night to play Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.

Kostas Papanikolaou - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB19
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: RADOVIC, SRETEN; PATERNICO, CARMELO; CORTES, CARLOS
Attendance: 6357
By Quarter1234
Olympiacos Piraeus20132118
CSKA Moscow1519421
End of Quarter1234
Olympiacos Piraeus20335472
CSKA Moscow15343859
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 BALDWIN IV, WADE 31:25 8 2/7 1/3 1/4   1 1 4 1 5     3 5 1
3 PAUL, BRANDON 28:31 11 1/5 2/7 3/4 1 5 6 4 3     1 3 4 14
5 NIKOLAIDIS, ALEXANDROS 2:21                              
6 KONIARIS, ANTONIOS 20:17 5 0/2 1/5 2/2 3 2 5   1       4 3 4
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 27:17 11 2/7   7/8 7 5 12 1 1       1 6 24
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 12:20 2 1/3 0/2     1 1 1   1     1   -2
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 37:26 19 4/9 2/6 5/6 1 6 7 3 5 4 3     4 27
21 RUBIT, AUGUSTINE 27:40 13 5/7 1/2   1 3 4 1 2   1   1 1 18
32 ELLIS, OCTAVIUS 12:43 3 1/3   1/2 5 2 7 1 1   2   4 2 9
Team           1 1 2     2          
Totals 200:00 72 16/43 7/25 19/26 19 26 45 15 14 12 6 1 17 25 95
        37.2% 28% 73.1%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
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
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 BOLOMBOY, JOEL 29:44 7 2/2 1/2   1 5 6 1         3   10
5 JAMES, MIKE 28:58 20 5/9 2/6 4/5 1 6 7 5 2 6   1 3 8 23
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 10:24 3 1/3   1/2   1 1     1       3 3
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 16:52 3   1/1     2 2   1 3     3    
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 14:30   0/3 0/1   1   1 1 1 3   1 3   -8
26 SANT-ROOS, HOWARD 13:33 2 1/2 0/2         1 1 1     1   -1
31 KOUFOS, KOSTA 13:11 4 2/4     1 3 4   2       1 1 8
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 21:27 11 3/7 1/3 2/3   1 1         2 2 2 3
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 14:32 3 0/1 1/1   2 1 3     3   1 2   -1
42 HINES, KYLE 16:29 3 1/2   1/2 1 3 4   1 2 1 1 4 3 3
84 BAKER, RON 20:20 3 0/1 1/4     2 2 3   1     4   -1
Team           1 4 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 59 15/34 7/20 8/12 8 28 36 11 8 21 1 6 26 17 43
        44.1% 35% 66.7%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"I would like to congratulate all our club, all our team - the fans, players and coaching staff, for this win. It was a very important win under these circumstances. We needed to fight for every possession, defensively and offensively. In every hustle part of the game, like we had 19 offensive rebounds and we had 6 blocks, we had 14 steals, we forced CSKA into 21 turnovers. It's obvious that every part of the game where we needed to fight, we did it. But as I've said, we need to immediately forget what we did. This is the EuroLeague. This was a typical second game in the week after two days for both teams. So I think the quality of the game was a little low. We needed to cool down the rhythm of the game. We needed to get a lot of possessions in the low post and to create from there because as you know we lost our two basic pick-and-roll users and creators."
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"Congratulations to Olympiacos. It was obviously the better team on the court. They deserve a lot of credit for the way they played, the way they fought, the way they kept believing. A lot of times in our sport, less is more. We didn't manage to turn the ship. I told my players I take blame for that. In a double week, there is no excuse for us. Again congratulations to Olympiacos, a lot of credit. Last but not least, in my team there are a lot of faces that have brought a lot of joy, a lot of happiness and a lot of pride. Not only winning titles, the way we perform. Today was really one of the worst, if not the worst, endings we had as a team. And that's what makes me sad. Can we change that? Of course. You know the name of the club. You know my name. You know the players I'm talking about We have this intention and we will do it."

Players

MILUTINOV, NIKOLA
Olympiacos Piraeus
"I think this is our best game this season. We really put a lot of energy, all the players who played really fought for each other. The bench was alive all the game. I can just say congratulations to everybody for today's performance. It was tough, but it doesn't matter because we won and this is the only thing that matters for me."
PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"Amazing win for us against an amazing opponent. Congratulations to everybody. Everybody gives his soul today for the game and played for the guys who were not here today. We were short and we showed character and mentality and great sacrifice for each other for the game. I was just trying to do the best that I can do. That's why I'm happy. I was feeling full today, at 100 percent. It's an amazing day for us."
JAMES, MIKE
CSKA Moscow
"I don't really have an answer, to be honest. I just think we didn't play well and it showed. I think the Efes loss was hard and it was a game where I didn't play particularly well. I think we all wanted to bounce back, but sometimes it just doesn't come out the way you want it to. We have to grow. We're probably going to watch this whole game tomorrow and we're going to figure out what's going on. We have to get better and it starts with me… We got punked. We got hit in the mouth and we didn't respond and we just kept on getting hit. They outhustled us, outrebounded us, shared the ball better, played more as a team and we turned the ball over way too much starting with me. I have to do better And we have to do better as a team."
HACKETT, DANIEL
CSKA Moscow
"It's very disappointing. There's not a lot to say. The way we played was bad today. Unexcusable. We have to go back home and see what happened, look ourselves in the face and get better. Today we were not there mentally, physically, and it's a shame. We were alerted by our coaching staff this was going to be a very difficult game. It's the players' responsibility. We have to be men and keep our heads up and go back to work stronger than before."