Follow all the latest news and updates news for Thursday's semifinals games here with the Game Blog!
Game Blog: Micic wins it in last second! Efes heads to championship game
Micic wins it!
It came down to the final possession and Efes knew what it wanted to do. The champs gave the ball to the 2020-21 EuroLeague MVP and Vasa Micic did not disappoint them. He dribbled to wind the clock down while scanning the court and then pulled up for a three that fell through the rim with 0.2 seconds left to win. It at first appeared to be a buzzer-beater, but a clock review added 0.2 seconds for Olympiacos, but there was little the Reds could do and Sloukas’s prayer at the buzzer was not answered.
Will missed free throws prove costly?
Micic and Larkin combined to make just 1 of 4 free throws as they looked to close out the game. Sloukas, after drawing Singleton’s 5th foul with 1:01 to play, made 2 to bring Olympiacos within 72-74. Then Hassan Martin tied it with a layup. We’re going to the wire!
Dunston fouls out
Bryant Dunston was called for his 5th foul with exactly 5 minutes to play. He finished with 12 points on near-perfect shooting, 1 rebound and 1 block in 21 minutes.
Singleton has 4 fouls and Micic and Elijah Bryant each have 3. The only Olympiacos player with more than 2 is Vezenkov (3).
The pressure is mounting
After a layup by McKissic got Olympiacos within 1 at 69-70, both teams committed turnovers. Pleiss dropped a pass from Micic in the paint and Dorsey overthrew a pass in transition. Coach Bartzokas called timeout to settle the troops. With 6:21 to play, it’s anyone’s game in the EuroLeague Semifinals! Are you not entertained?!?!?!
Vezenkov makes Reds roar
Despite trailing by double digits, Olympiacos was not about to fall apart. The Reds trimmed the deficit and when Vezenkov drained a triple – his first points of the night – to get within 56-62, the crowd was roaring again. He added a layup in the final minute of the quarter before Dorsey beat the third-quarter buzzer with a triple to make it 63-66.
Bryant heats up as Efes pads lead
Back-to-back threes by Elijah Bryant gave Efes its biggest lead of the game so far, 48-57, and suddenly the pockets of Efes fans dotting Stark Arena could be heard screaming above their Olympiacos counterparts. A strong run of play by Bryant has Efes in control.
Dorsey (finally) gets on the board for Olympiacos
Tyler Dorsey’s jumper in the second minute of the third quarter marked his first points of the game. Olympiacos’s top two scorers this season, Dorsey and All-EuroLeague forward Sasha Vezenkov, were held scoreless in the first half. The Reds survived thanks to 24 points off the bench, but they will try to get those stars going here in the second.
A different look for Efes
Efes opens the second half with a different look as Elijah Bryant, Chris Singleton and Bryant Dunston join starters Larkin and Micic on the floor. Olympiacos has the same 5 that started the game. A three by Bryant to start the second half scoring has Efes back on top.
Larkin leads Efes back
Shane Larkin knows a thing or two about putting up crooked numbers at the Final Four and he could be on the verge of history here. Larkin scored 10 second-quarter points to keep Efes close. He also dished 6 assists, the last of which was a Vasa Micic triple to put Efes up 41-42, though McKissic came through again for Olympiacos to lead by 1 at the break.
Efes’s 8 first-half triples are tied for the most triples in first half of a Final Four since 2007-08. It also made 8 in the 2019 semifinals against Fenerbahce Istanbul. Larkin is the fourth player to make 4 threes in the first half of a Final Four game. With 1 more, he becomes the first player in coemption history to make 5 threes in a Final Four game twice.
Reds' reserves get the job done
Olympiacos played much of the first few minutes of the second quarter with four reserves on the floor: Kostas Sloukas, Shaq McKissic, Hassan Martin and Georgios Printezis. Martin scored inside and McKissic drove for a layup that helped the Reds keep pace and when Thomas Walkup chased down a loose ball and fed Printezis for a slam, Olympiacos led 33-29 and Efes called timeout. The Martin-McKissic duo continued to shine with the former scoring twice to reach a game-high 9 points already and the latter netting free throws that made it 39-32 with 4 minutes left in the half.
Dunston inspires Efes off the bench
Bryant Dunston was the game’s first substitution, coming in for Tibor Pleiss, and he made an instant impact. Even though he failed to slow down Fall, Dunston drew a foul from the Olympiacos starter and made a free throw, nailed a jumper to beat the shot clock and blocked a Papanikolaou shot in the paint to help force a shot-clock violation. With Dunston on the court, Efes outscored Olympiacos 5-13 to lead 14-18 before the Reds regained the lead after 10 minutes.
Big men make early impact
Moustapha Fall scored the first basket of the game for the Reds and Tibor Pleiss’s hook shot put Efes up 4-5. Olympiacos scored a three on the next possession only after the ball went inside to Fall, he dunked on the ensuing possession, then drew a foul and splie free throws before assisting Kostas Papanikolaou on a layup to make it 12-5. After all the focus on the backcourt stars, the big men are making the big impact early.
Here are your starters!
The teams have taken the court
After the earlier shootarounds, both teams came in for proper warmups just moments apart. It is now confirmed that Krunoslav Simon will not play tonight. He is not in uniform, nor is Dogus Balbay for the reigning champs.
They teams are warming up!
More than an hour till tip-off of the first semifinal and Stark Arena is already abuzz. The Olympiacos takeover of the stands can be seen and heard with the pockets of red from all corners of the arena. And it’s only going to get louder as we approach game time!
Different players are taking different approaches as the warmup with Olympiacos’s Tyler Dorsey wearing headphones as he shoots to help block out all the noise and focus, while his teammates Moustapha Fall and Hassan Martin spent a few moments sitting by the side and taking in the atmosphere. The loudest noise was reserved for the boos when Efes star Shane Larkin came out. What a night it’s going to be!