The Reds' guard scored a season-high 30 points against the Lithuanian side
Tyler Dorsey roasts Zalgiris’s defense as Olympiacos dominates in Piraeus
Отчеты о матчах
3 Минутное чтение
Regular Season
Round 10 of 38
Regular Season
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
9578
Zalgiris KaunasZAL
Overview
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Zalgiris Kaunas came into Wednesday’s clash boasting the stingiest defense in the EuroLeague, averaging just 76.2 points conceded per game. The visitors hadn’t allowed more than 79 points in any of their last seven games, with their defense playing a major role in their four-game winning streak ahead of the game at Olympiacos Piraeus.
But the Reds were having none of it. Georgios Bartzokas’s side hit the ground running, with a spectacular Tyler Dorsey coming out firing for the hosts. Despite Olympiacos grabbing a comfortable 95-78 victory, the opening stages saw a back-and-forth affair – a situation Dorsey has been thriving in so far this term.
The Olympiacos guard opened the scoring with a jumper before hitting a pull-up from the elbow for a 4-2 lead. Zalgiris bounced back with Edgaras Ulanovas making a couple of free throws, but Dorsey drilled one from deep and then netted twice inside, scoring 12 of Olympiacos’s first 14 points of the game to make it 14-9.
Having set the tone early, Dorsey gave the mantle to Nikola Milutinov, who ended the first quarter on 7 points, with Olympiacos establishing a double-digit lead (28-14) after 10 minutes. The Greek side never looked back, with Dorsey finishing the first half on 15 points and his team 50-36 ahead at halftime.
“It was a great game,” Dorsey told EuroLeague TV. “They are a tough team. We came here right from the jump ball and had our gas on the pedal. We didn’t slow down in the second half as well.”
Eager to finish the game off, the hosts came out swinging in the second half. Olympiacos stepped up its defensive game, holding Zalgiris to just 17 points in the third quarter and securing a 74-53 cushion heading into the fourth.
Unwilling to let the momentum drop, Dorsey made sure he’d get himself on the highlight reel. After scoring an alley-oop two-pointer in transition, he nailed an off-balanced triple off the glass while drawing a foul from former teammate Moses Wright. On his way to complete the four-point play from the charity stripe, he heard the fans rhythmically chanting his name in recognition of his sublime performance.
“I always appreciate love and positivity,” Dorsey added after the game. “There’s lots of negative stuff in this world today. Any love and positivity feels good. It feels great. Hopefully I can make these fans happy this year, the whole year and at the end the big goal.”
Dorsey finished the night on a season-high 30 points, just two points shy from his career high. Having dominated on both ends of the floor, Olympiacos extended its winning streak against Zalgiris to nine games.
“We scored 95 points against the best defense so far in the EuroLeague,” Coach Bartzokas told EuroLeague TV. “It was a good offensive performance and I think that it was also really good defensively if we take out the second chances that we gave them.”
In fact, Olympiacos’s defense has stepped up over the last three home games, giving up 58, 71 and 78 points, respectively. It remains to be seen if the Reds can emulate that defensive effort on the road in their bid to complete a perfect double-round week at EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Friday night.
As for the offensive end, Olympiacos is aware that it's covered as Dorsey will be there again pulling the strings.
