Georgios Bartzokas's side recorded a statement victory at Stark Arena in Round 32
Fourth-quarter turnaround inspired Olympiacos past Partizan
The raucous atmosphere inside Stark Arena on Thursday night forced Olympiacos Piraeus into a nervy start against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade. With both teams aware of just how much a win would mean, Partizan was the side keeping a cool head through the first 30 minutes, outscoring the visitors in each of the first three quarters (22-17, 18-15, 19-14) to take a 59-46 lead into the final period.
“In the first three quarters, we were nervous,” head coach Georgios Bartzokas stated in the post-game press conference. “We missed many wide-open shots. We had opportunities to end a 4vs1 transition and we made a turnover. We were trailing for more than 30 minutes.”
In fact, Olympiacos hadn’t been in front since early in the game, when Alec Peters gave the Reds a 7-9 lead with a couple of free throws four minutes into the first quarter. However, the Greek side tightened up its defense, which provided a shot in the arm for its offense once again – a recurring theme for Olympiacos this season.
Taking charge in the fourth quarter
Partizan ended up going on an almost four-minute scoreless spell in the last quarter, with Olympiacos capitalizing by scoring 12 straight points to cut the gap to one point, 59-58. “Our fourth quarter was dominant,” Bartzokas added. “We won 10-28 in this period of time, which was crucial and started from our amazing defense that three players – [Kostas] Papanikolaou, [Thomas] Walkup and Nigel Williams-Goss – gave to the team by defending the very dangerous guards, creators and scorers that Partizan has.”
Olympiacos recorded 4 fourth-quarter steals, forcing Partizan to commit 5 turnovers. The three aforementioned players dominated on both ends of the court, as they also netted a combined 21 points in the last period, with the Greek side outscoring Partizan 10-28 to grab a statement 69-74 victory.
Bartzokas didn’t hesitate to praise Walkup and Williams-Goss, both of whom have been dealing with injuries over the last few games. “I have to tell you that Williams-Goss and Walkup can’t practice in this period because they have injuries and they are trying to protect themselves,” the Greek coach noted. “So, giving this intensity on the court for almost 20 minutes was crucial.”
With 10 minutes to go, Olympiacos was trailing by 13 points and the objective of securing home-court advantage in the playoffs seemed anything but doable. Yet, a week after outscoring LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 26-9 in the fourth period to clinch an 80-64 victory at home, the Greek side pulled off another extraordinary fourth-quarter display to down Partizan.
“It was such a tough atmosphere to play in,” Williams-Goss admitted. “Obviously, a lot was on the line for both teams and you saw that from both teams’ effort. It was a fight until the end and I’m super proud of the way we stuck together and pulled it out. With the standings being so close, now it’s just two games left. So, all these games are critical and we knew the importance coming into [this game].”
Olympiacos and its elite defense
Despite boasting the sixth-best offense in the EuroLeague with 83.2 scored per game coming into Thursday’s contest, Partizan was held to just 69 points by the guests, which is the second round in a row Olympiacos’s opponent has failed to score more than 70 points and the 11th time this season. It was also Partizan's lowest-scoring display in 32 games this year, which speaks volumes of the Reds’ defensive outing at Stark Arena.
Olympiacos will return to the Serbian capital next week to face Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade on Thursday night. Then, it will host top-four aspirant Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in what is expected to be one of the most decisive games in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season.
Having won eight of its last nine games, the Greek side is keen to end the season in style – and its victory at Partizan showed why Coach Bartzokas’s squad have what it takes to make a third straight Final Four.