With his incredible three-point buzzer Kostas SlukasOlympiacos responded with a break for a break Fenerbahceregained the lead in the series (2-1) of the playoffs of the Euroleague and now next Friday (5/5) he has the opportunity again in Polis to qualify for the Final Four in Kaunas.

The red-whites won. 72-71 team of Dimitris Itoudis in game 3 of the series, which in the worst case will return to the fifth match in SEF!

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Publication from Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@euroleague)

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Publication from Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@euroleague)

Shaka Gibi mq. Kostas Slukas😡 pic.twitter.com/29HgYLxlfp

— 𝔻@𝕍𝕀𝔻 ¹⁹⁰⁷ (@DavidFb1907) May 3, 2023

May 3 was the night of Kostas Slukas! The Olympiacos defender was the “best player” in game 3 against his former side Fenerbahce in the Euroleague play-offs, leading the red-whites and regaining the advantage they lost in the second game. Fenerbahçe, who refused to die, was +11 (26-15) ahead, with Dorsey and Calathes hitting hard threes at the end. In the Ulker Arena thriller… however, Sloukas wrote the end with a 3-pointer that won 72-71 to Olympiacos and 2-1 to Fener.

Olympiakos will aim to make it 3-1 next Friday (5/5, 20:45) in Istanbul and reach the Final Four in Kaunas, but even if they don’t, they will have another chance… SEF .

Before Sluka’s winning 3-pointer, it was Sasha Vezenkov, assisted by Sluka, who tied the game at 69-69 with his own “magic” 48.8-inch 3-pointer. Walkup almost became fatal for Olympiacos when… he passed to Pierre after his own defensive rebound, resulting in Gudourik giving Fener a 3” lead (71-69). However, no one at Olympiacos will remember Walkup’s mistake…!

Kostas Sloukas scored 25 points, handed out 6 assists and scored 4 rebounds with 34 points on the rating system. Sasha Vezenkov added 17 points, McKissick and Black were the two players who caused the break in the 4th period as Fenerbahce took a +9 (60-51) lead.

Tyler Dorsey did everything he could to upset his former Olympiacos team with 21 points on 3-of-5 3-pointers. Another great night was Kalatis organizing and building, with 10 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. With 15 points and 7 rebounds, Jekiri did a great job for Fenerbahce, playing effectively in defense along with Mustafa Fall.

Oukap, Keinan, Papanikolaou, Vezenkov and Fal started in the Olympiacos starting lineup. Itoudis started Calathes, Dorsey, Pierre, Jekiri and Hayes.

Olympiacos led 0:3 thanks to Vezenkov’s three-pointer and 3:5 from Fal, but Jackiri and Dorsey responded with a series of 8:0, and Fenerbahce – 11:5. From -6, Piraeus fell to a 13-11 basket with baskets from Vezenkov, Papanikolaou and Walkup. Both teams failed to score beyond 6.75: Fener took 1/4 and Olympiacos 1/5 in the first period. Piraeus team’s ineffective defense allowed the Turkish club to take a 21-5 lead in the 1st quarter, with Dorsi scoring 8 points and Zhekiri 7 and Vezenkov leading the team with 7 points.

With Sluka and Peters, Olympiacos advanced into the 2nd quarter, with Bartzokas bringing Fal on the bench before the end of the first minute after the restart, to be replaced by Tarik Black. Immediately afterwards, instead of Papanikolaou, Larentsakis entered.

In the second period, the Piraeus team showed two faces: they quickly found themselves at -11 (26-15) due to another three-pointer Tyler Dorsey, but quickly closed the gap on the leader Sloukas and took the lead +5 (33-38). . First, Slukas and Black brought the difference to 7 (26-19).

Dorsey scored 13 personal points (28-19), making a big game. But Slukash was full of determination and with 5 points in a row reduced the score to 28-25! Having received a foul from Gudurich, Peters and throws 2/2, Olympiakos came close to the point 28-27. Larentsakis, who gave energy to the defense, quickly accrued 3 fouls, and Papanikolaou returned to the site.

Olympiacos took a 28–29 lead when McKissick missed a 3-pointer, but Piraeus captain Costas Papanicolaou rebounded on offense to score. Itoudis’ players were off target in continuous action until Edwards took the lead with 5 straight points to give Fenerbahçe a 33-31 lead.

The Turks sent Black and Peters to the firing line, from where they were completely accurate (33-35). Kostas Sloukas hit the second 3-pointer, 33-38 (+5) for 13 personal points. At 2/2, Goodrich cut the score to 35–38 after the first half after Slukas missed a 3-pointer and Goodrich shortly thereafter.

Olympiacos will score just seven points in the third period against Fenerbahce’s 16. The players of both teams were nervous and misbehaved in the first minutes. Two consecutive three-pointers Calathes and Pierre brought the hosts to +3 (43-40). Dorsey and Kalatis took Fener to +8 (49-41) after Yorgos Bartzokas’ players became unsuccessfully offensively static at the end of their variations. The Olympiacos coach even pulled Vezenkov to the bench after the red-and-white forward’s airball, dropping Peters in his place.

On the Fener side, Dzekiri defended well at Volle and scored points for his team even as Papanicolaou closed the gap, 49-43. The only positive moment in the 3rd quarter was 3 fouls by Dorsey and Calathes. Sloukas went down to 51-45 and Olympiacos started from -6 in the 4th critical period.

In the early minutes of the 4th period, Fener’s defense continued to cut off the cooperation of the Olympiacos players, who found themselves at -9, 60-51, thanks to Motley. However, with personal actions by McKissick and Black, the Red-Whites returned to the game, dropping to -3 (60-57).

Now Olympiakos dismantled the defense and “read” the opponent in attack in order to overturn.

Tarik Black, who constantly fed inside the racket, beat Fener’s first line again, and Olympiacos went to the points, 60-59. And after two missed three-pointers by Sluka and Papanikolaou, it was Vezenkov’s hand that overtook Olympiacos – 60-61. And an interception by McKissick on Dzekiri would have led to a three-pointer from above Vezenkov (60-64). Dorsey’s foul goal brought the Turks to -1 (63-64). Slukas made it 63-66 with a throwback, but Dorsey hit the target with 6.75 (66-66). And Calathes in the next attack of the hosts also hit the target with a three-pointer 69-66 in favor of Fener, 1:43” before the end of the … thriller.

After a missed three-pointer by McKissick, Calathes made the 4th foul on black, but missed both shots! Hayes hit a 3-pointer… but luckily for Olympiacos it was too late! And after technical penalties from Bartzokas and Itoudis, Kostas Slukas assisted Vezenkov, who converted a three-pointer from 10 meters and hit the gate, leveling the score (69-69), by 48.8”.

And while Olympiacos was playing great defensively, causing Dorsey to miss and Walkup to get a defensive rebound, Olympiacos’ American defender… passed to Pierre in a tragic mistake.

With 3” to go, Gudurić hit the target (71-69) and everything showed that Fener was… in the arms of victory, but that wasn’t the case… Kostas Sloukas delivered the final blow to him after rebounding from Walkup. .. from 6.75, with Hayes hanging on it… and he laid it down (71-72).

The Olympiacos players headed to the dressing room, the referees watched the instant replay to see if it was too late… but it wasn’t… and Olympiacos had just made it 2-1 in the series!