It would be unfair to this team, it would be unfair even to the sport itself, if Olympiacos did not reach the Euroleague final after what they have achieved this season. But basketball is a fair sport, so the Red-Whites decisively booked a place for themselves in Sunday’s meeting, beating Monaco 76:62 in the Kaunas Final-4 semi-final, demonstrating an absolute performance in the 3rd period, when they had a personal score of 27-2(!) against the Principality team.

And yet, at the start of the match, no one could have predicted its development, as Monaco, despite being new to such a competition, squeezed into their ropes the “red-whites”, who showed the worst first half since their start of their European travel this year. Many missed shots, many effortless errors, many missed easy shots from a team that in the first two quarters seemed to buckle under the title they carried on their shoulders. So Monaco managed to get into the dressing room ahead 41-29, living their own fairy tale and seeing that the final might be closer for them than they originally imagined.

But everything changed in the 3rd period… The Red-Whites entered the court… dumbfounded, as if they had been electrocuted during the break. Their explosion was unprecedented as they played a game of perfection basketball that not only closed the gap immediately, but with a 27-2 score that we had not seen in ten minutes in the Final 4 of the championship. In the top competitions, they managed to take a lead of 56-43, which set the stage for reaching the final.

In the last ten minutes of the semi-finals, Olympiakos managed to effortlessly manage the margin they had built up, despite Monaco’s attempt to close it mostly at the start of the 4th period, and so by the end of the semi-final, Giorgos Bartzokas and his players were celebrating their qualification to the final with vehemence. competitions, along with their nearly 4,500 fans who filled every corner of the Zalgirio Arena and asked to win the 4th cup in the history of the team in just 24 hours.

The leader of Olympiacos, although not having a single point, was Valkap, who in the 3rd period played defense at the seminars on James. Sasha Vezenkov scored 19 points (2/6 three-pointers) and made 6 rebounds. Olympiacos captain Kostas Papanikolaou scored 15 points (2/5 three-pointers) and collected 8 rebounds. Mustafa Fala had 12 points but mostly NBA player Donatas Motiejunas had 7 points and Doda Hall had 2 points. Slucas scored 9 points on 7/8 shooting, Keenan added 7 points, McKissick 5.

The usual suspects Mike James and Eli Okobo scored 17 points each, with Lloyd adding another 11 points for Monaco, who gave Olympiacos only 20 minutes of hard time.

DECADES: 14-20, 29-41, 56-43, 76-62

OLYMPIAKOS (Bartsokas): Walkup (3 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 error), Kanan 7 (1), Luntsis, Larentsakis 4 (1/3 3s), Fall 12 (5/6 2s, 2/5 shots, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Slukas 9 (7 assists, 4 assists), Vezenkov 19 (5/8 two-pointers, 2/6 three-pointers, 3/4 shots, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Papanicolaou 15 (3/5 two-pointers, 2/5 3s, 3/5 shots, 8 rebounds), Boloboy 2, Peters, Blacks 3, McKissick 5 (1).

MONACO (Obrandovich): Brown 4, Okombo 17 (3/7 2-pointers, 2/6 3-pointers, 5/8 shots, 5 rebounds), Moneke 2, Lloyd 11 (2/3 2-pointers, 1/6 3-pointers, 4/ 5 shots, 7 rebounds), Diallo 2 (4 rebounds), Motejunas 7 (5 rebounds), Ouattara, Hall 2 (7 rebounds), James 17 (2/7 2-pointers, 2/7 3-pointers, 7/7 shots, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 fouls).