Olympiacos bounced back from its first loss of the season by defeating Anadolu Efes 89-66 at home in Piraeus, improving its record to 3-1. Efes, struggling with a 1-3 tally, suffered its second consecutive defeat in the EuroLeague.
Read More
Leading the way for Olympiacos was Jean Montero, who scored 16 points. Tyrique Jones added 11 points and six rebounds, while Sasha Vezenkov, Tyson Ward, and Mamadou Ndiaye each contributed nine points. Nikola Milutinov recorded four points and nine rebounds. For Efes, Cameron Payne made his debut with 12 points, supported by PJ Dozier with 11 points and Jordan Loyd who added 10.
Olympiacos built a 10-point lead after the first quarter, and despite a push from Efes that closed the gap to 35-31 at halftime, the hosts dominated the second half. The Greek team scored 27 points in each of the final two quarters and seized a significant advantage on the boards, grabbing 49 rebounds compared to Efes's 31, including 21 offensive rebounds.
In another matchup, Žalgiris Kaunas executed a dramatic comeback to defeat Barcelona 88-81 on the road. After entering the final quarter down by 10 points, Žalgiris rallied thanks in part to Jonas Valančiūnas, who scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in just 19 minutes.
Carsen Edwards led Žalgiris with 19 points and seven assists, while Dustin Sleva added 14 points and five rebounds. Marius Grigonis equaled Valančiūnas's contribution with another 12 points. For Barcelona, Justin Robinson was the top scorer with 20 points, including four three-pointers, while Kevin Punter and Tosan Evbuomwan chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively.
Barcelona initially led 41-39 at halftime and expanded that lead to 65-55 after three quarters. However, Žalgiris outscored the Catalan side 33-16 in the final period to secure the win, finishing with a total of 13 three-pointers at 48.1% shooting and a rebounding edge of 36-26.
In yet another game, Scottie Wilbekin shined for Beşiktaş with 24 points, including six three-pointers, helping his team win 92-84 against Baskonia. Devon Dotson contributed 14 points along with six assists and five rebounds, while Wenyen Gabriel also scored 14 points, and Jaylen Nowell added 12. Chris Duarte was a standout for Baskonia with 23 points and a perfect 15-for-15 from the free-throw line, while Kenneth Faried and AJ Lawson both finished with 10 points.
Beşiktaş led 28-20 after the first quarter but saw Baskonia come back to take a 51-49 lead at halftime. Beşiktaş regained control during the third quarter and limited Baskonia to just 13 points in the fourth to secure the victory.