Heading into its regular season finale against FC Barcelona on Friday night, Olympiacos Piraeus had already wrapped up homecourt advantage in the playoffs.
McKissic and Olympiacos sent a message
But, as Shaquielle McKissic acknowledged after the game: “We wanted to send a message.” And nobody sent that message louder than McKissic himself.
The Reds were behind throughout the first half, and trailed by 8 early in the third period as Barcelona played with control and concentration. But Olympiacos would not give up, and as the game went on the hosts managed to find a couple of extra gears to eventually walk away with a hard-earned 73-66 victory.
McKissic was the star of the show, especially in the crucial final quarter. He scored 11 of his season-high 20 points in the final 9 minutes of the game, including 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to ensure there would be no late Barca comeback, and regularly got the crowd off their feet with all-action plays.
He added 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals to his tally, and by the end of the night the message was coming across loud and clear: Olympiacos is ready for the playoffs, and so is McKissic.