The Barca-Olympiacos series, which begins on Wednesday, had two overtures during the EuroLeague Regular Season. Here's what happened.
This season's precedents: Barcelona vs. Olympiacos
Nine years have passed since FC Barcelona (22-12, fourth seed) and Olympiacos Piraeus (22-12, fifth seed) last went against each other in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs series. The other big-game precedents include the 2010 championship game, won by Barcelona, and the 2012 semifinals, won by Olympiacos. Barca leads their series this century by 22-13 overall.
This season, Barca finished ahead of the Reds due to a well-earned tie-break advantage and will enjoy home-court advantage. But Reds' fans will recall that their team lacked that advantage back in 2015, too, but was able to overcome and reach the Final Four.
Here's what went down when these two teams played each other earlier this season.
Abrines, Laprovittola led Barca from deep
Olympiacos hosted Barca for their first meeting this season at Peace and Friendship Stadium in Round 2. Barca led most of the way until Thomas Walkup had 7 points in a 9-0 run that gave Olympiacos a 66-59 lead with over 4 minutes left. Barca answered in style, as Alex Abrines struck twice from downtown and Tomas Satoransky added another triple in a 0-14 run that sealed the outcome. Barca won 68-77 behind 17 points and 7 assists from Nico Laprovittola. Barca buried 15 of 26 three-pointers (57.7%) – led by Abrines making 5 of 7 for 16 points – while Olympiacos hit just 7 of 25 (28%). Walkup led the Reds with 14 points.
Parker, Hernangomez assured crucial sweep
Olympiacos arrived to their Round 20 rematch with a four-game winning streak while Barca had just won its last two at Palau Blaugrana. Barca led most of the way, but the Reds rallied to get within 81-78 in the next-to-last minute. Nikola Kalinic beat the shot clock with a five-meter jumper and Satoransky sealed the outcome with a three-pointer. Barca won 86-78. The winners got 21 points from Jabari Parker, 16 from Willy Hernangomez, and 13 each from Satoransky and Kalinic. Alec Peters led all scorers with 22 points for Olympiacos. Barca outrebounded the Reds by 33-23 and once again did much better from beyond the three-point line, hitting 11 of 25 attempts (44.0%) to 8 of 22 (36.4%). Its series sweep proved the only tiebreak advantage Barca needed to assure itself home-court advantage in this series.