The Olympiacos big man was vital in the second quarter but suffered an injury in the fourth
Filip Petrusev’s bittersweet playoff debut
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Despite having a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague winners’ medal to his name, Olympiacos Piraeus big man Filip Petrusev had never played in the playoffs until Wednesday night’s 75-77 Game 1 win at FC Barcelona.
Just a couple of years ago, a 22-year-old Petrusev had to watch on as his Anadolu Efes Istanbul teammates knocked out EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in the playoffs and then beat Olympiacos in the semifinals and Real Madrid in the championship game. It was a bittersweet feeling for the Serbian, who didn’t get a single second of postseason game time under head coach Ergin Ataman.
Petrusev really announced himself to the EuroLeague with a standout season at Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade last year, but his team ended up going 17-17 and finished 10th in the standings, outside the playoff spots. His performances for the red-and-white side of Belgrade caught the attention of the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA, who had his draft rights, and he soon moved stateside. However, following just one appearance, he was traded to the Sacramento Kings, where he went on to play twice.
With Petrusev having been waived by the Kings in late November, it wasn’t long before his phone started buzzing once again. This time, it was Olympiacos, the type of call that doesn’t happen often. Within days, the Reds’ fans had a new name they could sing from the bleachers.
Showing up in the playoffs
Joining a new team in the middle of the season is never an easy task, particularly when it requires understanding a playbook the size of Georgios Bartzokas’s, but Petrusev had his best Olympiacos game at just the right time. Having averaged 5.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and a 6.9 PIR in 15:13 minutes across 15 regular-season appearances, there wasn’t a ton of pressure on the power forward coming into Game 1.
Alec Peters found himself sitting on the bench from the mid-point of the first quarter after picking up 2 early fouls, so an undermanned Olympiacos, missing its team captain and leader in Kostas Papanikolaou, was starting to scratch the bottom of the barrel. Well, absences tend to provide opportunities – and Petrusev made the most of his.
Petrusev got 1:20 minutes of game time in the first quarter, during which time he committed one foul and not much else. However, once he found his groove in the second, he started to take over. Olympiacos had a slender 18-19 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes, with Barcelona starting to mount a comeback, but Petrusev went on to score 12 second-quarter points as the Reds swelled their advantage to 35-44 at the half.
While Petrusev didn’t add any more points to his tally, that second-quarter stretch saw him earn the confidence of Coach Bartzokas, who brought him back in at the end of the third quarter and kept him in until midway through the fourth. At a point in the game in which Olympiacos was holding on to its lead, the 24-year-old was being trusted.
However, it wasn’t all positive news for Mr. Petrusev. Having come out of the game with 6:46 minutes left, he reentered when there were 50 seconds remaining and Olympiacos was ahead by three points, 72-75. Clearly lifted by the faith shown in him, Petrusev looked to put his team up by five with a dunk, despite having Alex Abrines, Ricky Rubio and Willy Hernangomez all jump up to try and block his shot.
He ended up being blocked by Abrines on his way up, then landed awkwardly after colliding into Hernangomez before immediately grabbing his left knee. In the end, Nikola Milutinov helped his countryman return to the bench. Giannoulis Larentzakis entered the game and made both free throws to set a 72-77 score.
Olympiacos would go on to win 75-77, but it was a bittersweet night for Petrusev. The Reds grabbed a hugely important Game 1 victory, but his knee injury will have put a dampener on things for him personally. Here’s hoping it’s nothing serious.