Fourth defeat in five for struggling Olympiacos
 

EUROLEAGUE REGULAR SEASON - ROUND 16

Olympiacos suffered their fourth defeat in five EuroLeague regular season games on Friday evening, conceding a 90-80 loss to Barcelona on the road.

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The goal of reaching the playoffs is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. At times, Olympiacos did attack well against Barcelona away from home, but the in-form hosts were too strong and condemned the Greeks to their fourth consecutive road defeat in the EuroLeague. Olympiacos, only possessing six victories from 16 games, are now languishing in 12th place of the standings. Only the top eight qualify for the playoffs.

Barcelona, on the other hand, are in third spot with an impressive 13 victories. Their last EuroLeague defeat arrived in late November against reigning champions CSKA Moscow.

Wille Reed (15), Kostas Papanikolaou (14), Sasha Venezkov (14) and Augustine Rubit (10) all reached double figures in terms of points for Olympiacos. Nikola Mirotic was the leading scorer as he grabbed 21 points for Barcelona.

Next week, Olympiacos host fellow strugglers Fenerbahce in Piraeus, while Barcelona travel to Baskonia.

THE MATCH

Barcelona, immediately taking the initiative, gained a 20-12 lead in a strong first quarter.

Nevertheless, Olympiacos improved greatly in the second frame, with Papanikolaou notably completing this stunning individual play:

Barcelona only held a slender one-point advantage at the half-time break.

However, just as Olympiacos thought they had a realistic chance of snatching a vital win, Barcelona quashed their hopes with a 29-19 triumph in the third quarter. The home team subsequently completed the job in the fourth to comfortably see the game out.

HIGHLIGHTS

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sport-fm.gr

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