Olympiacos Piraeus is the first team in the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season to officially secure its place in the playoffs thanks to a 72-74 victory at Zalgiris Kaunas in Round 29 on Thursday. Currently sitting first in the standings with a record of 21-8, with six games left to play in the regular season, the Reds have been rewarded for their fine campaign to this point.
Now, the goal for head coach Georgios Bartzokas and his players is to secure home-court advantage, which proved pivotal in its five-game series victory against AS Monaco last season. Given its current position at the top of the standings and its 2-0 season sweeps of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Olympiacos is in a good position to wrap up home-court advantage.
Road to playoffs
Ever since Round 1, Olympiacos has been the team to beat. The Reds began the season with three road wins – at FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz – from their first four games, winning the other at home to Zalgiris Kaunas to tie for first place at 4-0. Rounds 5 and 6 saw a bit of a wobble as Olympiacos lost back-to-back contests, but the team quickly steadied the ship by winning its next four home games. In Rounds 14 and 15, Olympiacos lost two successive games yet again, but since then it has gone 11-2 over its next 13 fixtures to solidify its place atop the standings.
Olympiacos fans have been able to witness some impressive victories through the first 29 rounds, notably winning by 46 points, 117-71, at home to Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Round 12, beating Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul by a combined 47 points over its two games – 94-67 in Piraeus in Round 13 and 73-93 in Istanbul in Round 22 – and also downing ALBA Berlin by 33 points, 60-93, on the road in Round 24. More recently, in Round 28, the Reds broke the 100-point barrier for the second time this season after defeating FC Bayern Munich 102-74.
Playoff experience
The good news for Olympiacos heading into the playoffs is that it has several players who have been there before. Kostas Sloukas, a two-time EuroLeague champion with the Reds in 2012 and 2013, and also a champ with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in 2017, is a calm head coming off the bench. Kostas Papanikolaou, who also lifted the EuroLeague title in 2012 and 2013, is in his first year as team captain after the retirement of Georgios Printezis, while the core of the Reds' team – MVP candidate Sasha Vezenkov, Thomas Walkup, Moustapha Fall and Shaquielle McKissic – all played big roles in their fourth-place finish last year. Alec Peters is another former EuroLeague champion, having had a limited role during CSKA Moscow's title-winning season in 2019.
Playoff history
In the 2021-22 campaign, Olympiacos fell in the semifinals of the Final Four to Anadolu Efes Istanbul following Vasilije Micic's game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. The team got to that point after defeating Monaco 3-2 in the playoffs to return to the Final Four for the first time since it lost the title game in 2017. During that series against Monaco, Olympiacos went 2-1 at home and 1-1 on the road, with Game 5 taking place in Piraeus.
Overall, Olympiacos has won seven playoff series and lost six dating back to the 2005-06 season. Its playoff record stands at 20-6 in Piraeus and 7-19 on the road. The Reds have reached seven Final Fours and won two EuroLeague titles this century.