2019-20Regular SeasonRound 5
CSKA Moscow 79
Olympiacos Piraeus 84
October 30, 2019 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 MEGASPORT ARENA

Olympiacos rallies, stuns CSKA

Olympiacos Piraeus came back from a first-half double-digit deficit to down previously undefeated CSKA Moscow 79-84 on the road on Wednesday night. Olympiacos improved to 2-3 on the season, while CSKA suffered its first defeat and dropped to 4-1. The hosts led by 11 points early in the second quarter, but Olympiacos answered with a 2-15 run to go in front before taking the lead for good late in the second quarter. Brandon Paul led the Reds with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Kevin Punter scored 16 and Georgios Printezis added 11 points. Mike James was game's top scorer with 22 points, and also had 6 assists for CSKA. Kyle Hines added 19 and Darrun Hilliard 17 in defeat.

CSKA was the first to grab the lead, with James, Kyle Hines and Daniel Hackett all involved by either scoring or assisting for each of CSKA's first-quarter field goals. James had a triple, and Hackett set up Hines with an easy fastbreak layup to open a 19-13 lead. Vassilis Spanoulis hit a three-pointer for the visitors, but James made another triple late in the first quarter, and Ron Baker hit one early in the second to help CSKA open a 29-18 advantage. Olympiacos started dominating offensive boards then, and Georgios Printezis sparked its offense by scoring inside three times before his three-point play put the Reds in front 31-33. Hilliard's triple snapped a 2-15 Olympiacos run and James knocked down his third shot from long distance, but Paul and Mindaugas Kuzminskas made sure the Reds would take a 39-43 edge into halftime. The teams kept trading blows in the third quarter. Threes from Will Cherry and Kevin Punter put Olympiacos ahead 42-49, but Hines scored inside on four consecutive possessions, including a pair of dunks, to cut the difference to 53-56. Another basket by Hines made it 58-59, but Olympiacos remained in front with Punter and Rubit muscling in close-range baskets late in the third. Sasha Vezenkov and Punter did the same early in the fourth to send the Reds in front 62-68. Hines and Kurbanov got CSKA within 66-68, but Paul nailed a second-chance three-pointer and made a circus shot in the lane to expand the lead to 69-76 with 2:13 left. Hilliard gave CSKA hope with a three-pointer, but Spanoulis answered with a three of his own with 69 seconds to go, sealing the deal.

More than a decade

Olympiacos snapped a streak of seven consecutive road losses against CSKA. The last time Olympiacos beat CSKA in Moscow, before tonight, was a playoffs Game 1 in April of 2008.

Rebounding advantage

When CSKA seemed to be pulling away in the second quarter, Olympiacos took control of the boards. The Reds had 1 offensive rebound in the first quarter, but pulled down 6 in the second, and finished with 14 for the night. CSKA had 8 offensive boards for the game, and it is what made a difference in the end, with Olympiacos taking a 15-10 edge in second-chance points.

Limiting turnovers

Olympiacos had just 8 turnovers, and did well on the defensive glass, which limited CSKA's transition and held the hosts to just 4 fastbreak points.

Veterans to the rescue

Olympiacos legends showed up in some key moments in this game. Georgios Printezis scored 9 of his 11 points in a key 2-15 run in the second quarter to fuel the Reds' rally, while Vassilis Spanoulis, who had 8 points, was clutch once again, hitting a key three-pointer with 1:09 left in the game to help push the Reds to victory.

Next up

On Friday in Round 6, CSKA travels to St Petersburg to face a fellow Russian rival Zenit, while Olympiacos will play at home, welcoming Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.

Brandon Paul - Olympiacos Piraeus - EB19
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; VILIUS, GYTIS
Attendance: 8462
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow24152119
Olympiacos Piraeus18252120
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow24396079
Olympiacos Piraeus18436484
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 12:51 2 1/3     2   2     1     2 1  
5 JAMES, MIKE 34:20 22 3/8 2/6 10/11   5 5 6 2 4   1 3 7 24
7 UKHOV, IVAN 3:47                   1     1   -2
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 8:15     0/2                   1   -3
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 11:15     0/3     1 1 1         3   -4
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 17:34 2 1/1 0/3     4 4 1 1       1 2 6
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 18:29 5 1/1 1/2     7 7 2   1     3 1 10
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 5:25 2 1/1 0/1   1 1 2 1 1 1       1 5
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 28:26 17 4/5 2/6 3/3   2 2 1           3 18
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 22:07 7 2/2 1/1   1 2 3 3   2 1   5 1 8
42 HINES, KYLE 26:47 19 9/13   1/3 1 2 3 2         4 2 16
84 BAKER, RON 10:44 3 0/2 1/2     1 1 1         1   1
Team           3 3 6     2         4
Totals 200:00 79 22/36 7/26 14/17 8 28 36 18 4 12 1 1 24 18 83
        61.1% 26.9% 82.4%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
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
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 PUNTER, KEVIN 25:56 16 5/9 1/2 3/6   4 4 1 1 2   1 5 6 12
2 BALDWIN IV, WADE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 PAUL, BRANDON 23:23 20 3/5 2/5 8/9   6 6 3 1 1     4 5 24
6 KONIARIS, ANTONIOS 5:27               1   1     1   -1
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 18:53 8 0/2 2/6 2/3   2 2     1     1 2 3
10 CHERRY, WILL 28:26 9 2/3 1/4 2/4 1 1 2 2 2       2 3 10
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 18:50 2 1/2     4 4 8 1     1   3 1 9
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 10:07 2 1/1 0/3   1 1 2           1    
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 22:44 11 5/10 0/1 1/2   5 5 1   1     1 4 12
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 7:52   0/2       1 1   1 1         -1
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 17:12 8 2/5 1/2 1/1 1   1 1         1 1 6
21 RUBIT, AUGUSTINE 21:10 8 4/7     6 1 7     1       2 13
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 84 23/46 7/23 17/25 14 26 40 10 5 8 1 1 19 24 89
        50% 30.4% 68%
Head coach: KEMZURA, KESTUTIS

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"Congratulations to Olympiacos. Unfortunately, today was a bad performance for my team. We could not meet our standards. It was a bad attitude in many things. We had a lead of plus 10, and we lost it because of hustle of Olympiacos, on boards, on 50-50 balls. We have not met our standards. You cannot underestimate any team in the EuroLeague. In this league, in comparison with other leagues worldwide, every game is like a final."
KEMZURA, KESTUTIS
Olympiacos Piraeus

"First of all, what's special is the way the team played. Biggest congratulations to my guys. The energy, the spirit that we showed was something special. With all the respect to CSKA, what we asked for, what we are looking for, is all about those things: concentration all 40 minutes, fighting, being physical. Then the offense and all the rest will come. The bench comes alive, gives energy. These are special things."

"Until this game, CSKA was the leading three-point shooting team in the EuroLeague and in this game, they shot 26%. They were also a leading offensive rebounding team, they finished this game with 8 offensive rebounds. Those are great numbers for us. We took away something. They are a great team with great players, but we did not give them too many easy points. Most of the time we were hustling and fighting, and out of this, we got some opportunities for fastbreaks. Will Cherry did a great job defensively, Brandon Paul gave us spark on the offensive end, and all other guys gave something. But we have to forget this game as soon as possible and focus on the game on Friday."

Players

HILLIARD, DARRUN
CSKA Moscow
"When we first came out, we turned the ball over early, and it kind of trickled down from there. It was tough. We just did not prepare right, and we paid for it. It was one of those days, we are not going to shoot the ball at high clip, so we just got to pick up for it in different ways, defensively or taking care of the ball. And we did not do that. We can't really pride ourselves on making shots too much; we've got to play defense and play hard."
HINES, KYLE
CSKA Moscow
"It is a tough loss. We did not play up to our standards, how we normally play. Obviously we did not come with the right attitude in this. Olympiacos came like having their back against the wall, and they played like it was a last game for them, and we did not play that way. And it showed. Lucky for us we have a short week, we have another game in couple days, and hopefully we can come back from this."
SPANOULIS, VASSILIS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"I still have the energy; I don't think of my age. I just try to enjoy basketball and feel like a kid on the floor, and go into every game to win. What we are doing is a team sport, so it is important that the entire team gives a little bit to get a big win like tonight. The coach had a great game plan, we followed it. This is our most important win this year. Everyone helped and gave the maximum. I have to congratulate Will for great hustle and great defense, Kevin and Brandon, who came with great energy. They are new guys on the team, they showed a great effort and played great basketball. We don't care who scored or played good; everybody helped and this is a team win."
PAUL, BRANDON
Olympiacos Piraeus
"We told ourselves that we needed to steal a game on the road, and there's not much of a better game to steal than this one. We just came out with a lot of energy, a lot of passion, a lot of fire, and we controlled the game from the start. We did a good job scouting, and we limited their second-chance opportunities. I think rebounding, at the end of the day, was a big key for us. I don't think a lot of people believed in us, so we had to believe in ourselves."