Olympiacos Edges Žalgiris in Kaunas, 93⁠–⁠91

Defending EuroLeague champion Olympiacos Piraeus beat Žalgiris Kaunas 93⁠–⁠91 on the road on Tuesday, 29 September, at Žalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania, to open the season 2⁠–⁠0 in Europe’s top men’s club basketball competition (euroleaguebasketball.net; Eurohoops). Tip-off was 19:00 CEST (1 p.m. ET). Quarters ran 24⁠–⁠21, 44⁠–⁠44, 63⁠–⁠64, 91⁠–⁠93 for the hosts (euroleaguebasketball.net).

Evan Fournier led Olympiacos with 19 points. Sasha Vezenkov added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Jean Montero had 15 points and seven assists (euroleaguebasketball.net; Eurohoops). Sterling Brown paced Žalgiris with 20 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter; Ąžuolas Tubelis scored 19, Carsen Edwards 16, and Jonas Valančiūnas 11 (euroleaguebasketball.net; Eurohoops). Olympiacos sealed the win when Vezenkov took an offensive rebound after Fournier missed a free throw with about two seconds left (Eurohoops). Serbian center Nikola Milutinov, who did not travel to Kaunas because of tendinitis, did not play; Bryant Dunston was also unused (Eurohoops; euroleaguebasketball.net box). A sold-out crowd watched with Shaquille O'Neal courtside (Eurohoops; BasketNews; Žalgiris sellout notices). Per OptaJerry via BasketNews, it was only the second time Olympiacos have scored 90 or more in each of their first two EuroLeague games of a season, after 2006⁠–⁠07.

The EuroLeague is Europe’s top men’s club basketball competition, a season-long league of leading clubs that ends in a Final Four weekend (euroleaguebasketball.net). A free throw is an unguarded shot from the line awarded after a foul; an offensive rebound is a missed shot recovered by the shooting team, which keeps the possession alive. Tendinitis is inflammation of a tendon, the tissue that connects muscle to bone. A sold-out arena means every ticket was sold; courtside seats are the front-row seats beside the floor (Eurohoops; BasketNews). CEST is Central European Summer Time, six hours ahead of Eastern Time in the United States in late September.

BasketNews reported that with less than two minutes left Žalgiris led 84⁠–⁠82, after which Fournier sank back-to-back three-pointers; Fournier scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter (BasketNews). Vezenkov finished with a performance index rating of 26 on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, and BasketNews listed him as player of the game (BasketNews). Just before tip-off, O’Neal greeted Fournier and Valančiūnas; Fournier later told BasketNews that seeing the NBA legend was “fun” and “good for the game,” and that O’Neal learned a few Lithuanian words and got the crowd going (BasketNews). Fournier also called the home-opener atmosphere hard to play in and said he was happy Olympiacos came out with the win, adding that in the decisive stretch he “kind of knew what was going to be open” and went for it (BasketNews).

Olympiacos coach Georgios Bartzokas confirmed before the trip that Milutinov would miss the double-week games because of persistent tendinitis; the medical staff chose therapy and strengthening work after he had been playing through pain and could not deliver at his usual level (Basketball Sphere; Sportando, citing Bartzokas via SPORT24). Eurohoops’s Matchday 2 injury update confirmed Milutinov did not travel and noted that Dunston and George Papas had signed with the club on Monday (Eurohoops). Dunston was on the twelve-man roster but unused in the box (Eurohoops; euroleaguebasketball.net box). Olympiacos opened the season with a 106⁠–⁠89 win at Baskonia on 24 September, so the Kaunas result made the defending champions 2⁠–⁠0; they won last season’s title by beating Real Madrid 92⁠–⁠85 in the May final (euroleaguebasketball.net; Eurohoops; BasketNews; Olympiacos BC / Eurohoops Final Four context).

Žalgirio Arena is the home arena of Žalgiris in Kaunas. Brown’s 14 fourth-quarter points, on 8-of-11 shooting overall for 20, kept the hosts close until Vezenkov’s late rebound sealed the road win for the Greek club (Eurohoops; BasketNews). BasketNews’s box snapshot also showed both teams shooting 53 percent from the field, with Žalgiris 12-of-26 from three and Olympiacos 5-of-20 (BasketNews). Olympiacos next faces Virtus Bologna later in the double week; Milutinov remains out for that stretch as well under the same medical plan (Basketball Sphere; Sportando).