2008-09PlayoffsGame 3
March 31, 2009 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 PALACIO VISTALEGRE

Real Madrid stung Olympiacos 71-63

Real Madrid is alive and kicking in the fight to make the 2009 Final Four after beating Olympiacos 71-63 in front of 11,500 fans in Game 3 of the Quarterfinal Playoffs in the Spanish capital on Tuesday. Madrid registered its first win in the best-of-five playoff series and hosts Game 4 on Thursday. Olympiacos needs one more win to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1999. Louis Bullock led the winners with 22 points and Felipe Reyes added 21 and 9 rebounds for Madrid. Ioannis Bourousis led Olympiacos with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but nobody else registered double digits for the Reds, whose star center Nikola Vujcic left the game with an injury late in the first quarter. Alex Mumbru and Bullock combined for all the points in an 11-0 opening run. A three-point play by Reyes soon made it an 18-point game, 22-4. A fast break dunk by Sergio Llull gave Madrid its biggest lead, 33-12. Zoran Erceg and Bourousis brought Olympiacos back to life while consecutive three-pointers by Panos Vasilopoulos and Theo Papaloukas got the Reds within 65-60 with a minute to go, however Jeremiah Massey and Raul Lopez allowed Madrid to seal a well-deserved win.

Mumbru got Madrid going with free throws, as Olympiacos opted for a small starting lineup with Giorgos Printezis at power forward. Bullock took over with consecutive three-pointers for a 8-0 Madrid lead. The Reds went scoreless for more than two minutes while an acrobatic three-point play by Mumbru made Olympiacos coach Panagiotis Giannakis call timeout at 11-0. Josh Childress tried to change things with a put-back dunk that Reyes matched with a five-meter jumper. Vujcic scored around the basket, but Olympiacos could not adjust its man-to-man defense. Reyes stepped up with free throws and added a driving layup to make it 17-4. Madrid excelled in defense while a big basket by Massey and a three-point play by an unstoppable Reyes boosted the hosts' lead to 22-4, after a 9-0 run. Childress took over with a layup-plus-foul and Lynn Greer struck from downtown to bring Olympiacos back to life, 22-10. A free throw by Kennedy Winston and a left-handed driving layup by Childress fixed the score at 23-12 after 10 minutes.

Olympiacos opened the second quarter with a 24-second violation that allowed Tomas Van den Spiegel to give Madrid a 25-12 margin. Van den Spiegel soon added a layup in transition and Marko Tomas led the hosts' defense by stopping Papaloukas. Olympiacos lacked ball circulation and was held scoreless for more than five minutes. Meanwhile, a power layup by Mumbru broke the game open, 29-12. Hervelle nailed a floating jumper, as the Reds even missed free throws now. Llull sent the crowd to its feet with a fast break dunk that capped a 10-0 Madrid run. Erceg scored in transition - Olympiacos's first points in this quarter - while Bourousis added a layup for a 33-16 deficit. Bullock stepped up with a big basket that Greer erased in the other end. The Reds switched back to man-to-man defense off a timeout but kept struggling to score despite slowing down the game tempo. Bourousis made free throws but Reyes beat the buzzer with a tip-in for a 37-20 Madrid lead at halftime.

Madrid tried to use longer possessions after the break, trying to look for open shots. Bourousis shined with a coast-to-coast layup, but free throws by Bullock restored a 17-point Madrid lead. Milos Teodosic took over with a floating layup as the Reds slowly improved their defense. Madrid could not find the way to the basket while trying to run the game clock down, while free throws by Bourousis brought Olympiacos closer, 39-26. Reyes hit foul shots, but Printezis answered from downtown to get Olympiacos within 12. Madrid called timeout after which Massey and Bourousis traded layups. Reyes shined with a jump hook and Bullock added an electric driving layup to give Madrid a 47-33 margin. Erceg silenced the crowd with a triple, but free throws by Bullock gave Madrid some fresh air. Erceg helped Olympiacos with a second-chance layup that Bullock bettered with a layup-plus-foul. Bourousis scored down low for a 52-41 Olympiacos deficit after three quarters.

Papaloukas fed Bourousis for an alleyoop layup that brought the Reds within single digits, 52-43. Papaloukas soon added a driving layup, but free throws by Reyes kept Madrid way ahead, 54-45. Panos Vasilopoulos beat the shot clock with a step-back triple that Bullock matched with foul shots. Greer insisted from downtown to make it 57-51 with seven minutes to go. Both teams went scoreless for more than two minutes until Reyes fed Bullock for a backdoor layup, good for a 59-51 Madrid edge. Olympiacos needed a quick comeback to keep its options alive in the final four minutes and Childress tried to ignite it with free throws. Reyes copied him at the other end while Massey shined with a power layup, good for a 63-53 Madrid lead. Reyes collected a steal and fed Mumbru for a fast break layup, but Vasilopoulos answered from downtown for a 65-57 Olympiacos deficit. Papaloukas joined the three-point shootout to get the Reds event closer, 65-60, with a minute remaining. Massey scored in penetration but Greer got Olympiacos within 67-61 with 45.5 seconds to go. Free throws by Lopez sealed the outcome, as the Madrid fans saw that their team would keep fighting for Euroleague glory!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Euroleague.net
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Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; ZIEMBLICKI, GRZEGORZ; JOVCIC, MILIVOJE
Attendance: 11500
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid23141519
Olympiacos Piraeus1282122
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid23375271
Olympiacos Piraeus12204163
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MIROTIC, NIKOLA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 BOGDANOVIC, BOJAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 WINSTON, KENNEDY 11:21 1     1/2   1 1           1 2 2
9 REYES, FELIPE 31:15 19 5/16   9/11 5 4 9 4 5 2     1 8 29
12 VAN DEN SPIEGEL, TOMAS 8:45 4 2/2     2   2     2     4    
15 MUMBRU, ALEX 25:11 9 3/5 0/2 3/3 1 1 2 3 5 3   1 2 3 12
17 HERVELLE, AXEL 24:28 4 2/4 0/3   2 5 7 1   4 1   3 1 2
21 MASSEY, JEREMIAH 15:14 8 4/5 0/1   2 2 4           5 1 6
22 BULLOCK, LOUIS 33:40 22 4/7 2/9 8/9   1 1 3   1     2 5 17
23 LLULL, SERGIO 13:40 2 1/1 0/1   1   1           1 1 2
24 LOPEZ, RAUL 28:26 2 0/2 0/3 2/2   2 2 3 1         3 6
33 TOMAS, MARKO 8:00   0/1     1 1 2     1   1 1   -2
Team           1 2 3   2           5
Totals 200:00 71 21/43 2/19 23/27 15 19 34 14 13 13 1 2 20 24 79
        48.8% 10.5% 85.2%
Head coach: PLAZA, JOAN
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
4 PAPALOUKAS, THEODOROS 25:52 5 1/1 1/1     3 3 6   6       2 10
6 CHILDRESS, JOSH 24:19 9 3/3 0/2 3/3 2 4 6     1     1 3 14
7 VUJCIC, NIKOLA 7:56 2 1/2       1 1     1     1    
9 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 27:01 17 6/9 0/2 5/9 4 6 10 1 1 3     4 6 19
10 HALPERIN, YOTAM 14:03     0/2     1 1 1   1     2   -3
11 GREER, LYNN 30:28 9 1/5 2/6 1/2 1 1 2 2         3 3 4
13 VASILOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS 26:47 6   2/4 0/2   1 1     2 2   2 2 3
14 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
16 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 17:26 6 1/2 1/1 1/2 1 3 4   1 1     5 3 6
17 ERCEG, ZORAN 8:48 7 2/3 1/1   1   1 1   1   1 3   3
18 TEODOSIC, MILOS 11:36 2 1/2 0/1   1   1 2 1       3 1 2
24 PARGO, JANNERO 5:44   0/1 0/2         1 1 1         -2
Team             1 1     2         -1
Totals 200:00 63 16/28 7/22 10/18 10 21 31 14 4 19 2 1 24 20 55
        57.1% 31.8% 55.6%
Head coach: GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS

Head Coaches

PLAZA, JOAN
Real Madrid
"We were able to win this game under difficult conditions, with three games in a short period of time. We managed to play tough in the second half and played defense close to perfection. My team was very ambitious and willing tonight, and that was a main key to this win. That is why we deserve to tie the series. Our defensive level was great but our three-point precentage was bad. That kind of thing must be improved in the upcoming Game 4."
GIANNAKIS, PANAGIOTIS
Olympiacos Piraeus
"First of all, I have to say I am sorry for the first half my team had tonight. That let Madrid get a big lead. Luckily, everything changed in the second half. We played much better, but the keys were the easy points we allowed in this game. I knew it was going to be a long series, but I hope my team improves in Game 4. All I have left to say is to congratulate Madrid for this win."

Players

LOPEZ, RAUL
Real Madrid
"We played an all-around game tonight. It was obvious that we feel very comfortable at home. We have to be focused now. We are not thinking about Game 5, but only to get ready and focus in Game 4. I really liked our defense in the first half. On the other hand, we have to improve what we did in the second half."
REYES, FELIPE
Real Madrid
"It was a tough game for us. We have one more battle to fight, but with our fans it is very easy to play a do-or-die, make-or-break game. Each game has the same intensity, but like I said, having fans like these makes things much easier. Their posters before the game made us get right on track. They supported us all 40 minutes long. Our defense was incredible in the first half. We were able to work hard in the second half when they tried to come back and that allowed us to win the game."
CHILDRESS, JOSH
Olympiacos Piraeus
"It is obvious that we have to change some of the things we did tonight, especially on defense. We need to be way more aggressive and avoid playing worse, even though we are playing on the road. This has been an audience different from everything I have seen before, but it was fun to play in this nice atmosphere. We must work hard, improve our game and try to win Game 4."
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