The Reds hadn’t won away at Efes since 2017
Olympiacos rides momentum to break the curse with win at Efes
Izveštaji utakmica
3 Min čitanja
Regular Season
Round 24 of 38
Regular Season
Anadolu Efes IstanbulEFS
6874
Olympiacos PiraeusOLY
Overview
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It was back in 2017 when Olympiacos Piraeus got its last taste of victory away at Anadolu Efes Istanbul. From that team led by current AS Monaco coach Vassilis Spanoulis, only Kostas Papanikolaou and Nikola Milutinov are in this Olympiacos roster, with the latter having missed out on Thursday’s game due to concussion.
From that April night nine years ago, Efes would go on to celebrate seven straight home victories against Olympiacos. That drought would finally come to an end with a 68-74 win on Thursday night, but the Reds didn’t have it easy for yet another time in front of a sold-out crowd at Turkcell Basketball Development Center.
Riding their momentum, coach Georgios Bartzokas’s side got off to a great start, with Tyler Dorsey hitting back-to-back triples for a 0-8 run to open the first quarter. Eager to finally break the curse, Olympiacos didn’t take its foot off the gas, as Sasha Vezenkov scored 12 of his team's points for a 13-25 cushion after 10 minutes.
Donta Hall netted 8 off the bench, with Tyson Ward pitching in with 6 of his own, as the visitors opened a 31-48 lead at halftime thanks to solid defense and playing their signature free-flowing basketball on the other end of the floor.
Despite its poor recent form, Efes had no intention of going down without a fight. The hosts tightened up their defense and held one of EuroLeague’s finest offenses to just 10 points in the third quarter.
An inspired Saben Lee brought the energy from the bench against his former team, netting a layup in traffic before hitting a triple to bring the hosts within 61-63 midway through the fourth quarter. But a timeout from Bartzokas served as a wake-up call for the guests, who responded with a 0-8 run for a double-digit advantage.
Thomas Walkup unlocked Efes’s defense with a tough triple before buckets from Vezenkov and Dorsey made it 61-71 with less than 2 minutes to go.
The absences of both Frank Ntilikina and Monte Morris due to their respective injuries saw Walkup stay on the floor for over 33 minutes and he was sublime throughout. The veteran guard recorded 9 assists and 4 rebounds along with a steal and 6 points – including the aforementioned clutch triple.
In fact, Walkup seems to have found his range from deep recently, having made 8-for-11 from beyond the arc over the last three games after shooting just 23% in the first 21 rounds.
“With the roster that we’ve built, it’s super easy to play as a point guard,” a humble Walkup told EuroLeague TV. “Everybody can score, everybody can shoot. The ball just really flows, so I think not just myself but the whole team is in a great rhythm right now.”
Indeed, Olympiacos has won four straight and seven of its last eight games, remaining undefeated in 2026. Ghosts of the past came back to hunt the Reds in the second half against Efes, but they managed to keep their composure and closed the game to complete a perfect double-round week.
“Winning over here is really important,” Bartzokas said. “Every game in the EuroLeague, especially on the road, is really important.”
What lies ahead for Olympiacos is a demanding clash against FC Barcelona, which crushed the Reds 98-85 at Palau Blaugrana back in early December. However, the landscape looks very different right now for the Greek side, which will look to benefit from its momentum to seek revenge on home soil.
